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MEMOIR  ,        lv 

OF/         -'  ,Vit^  -^V-'/ 


GRANVILL  KSHAJP , 


.  ,«*\     V'    >-        ^    '•>     /'/ 


TO  WHICH  IS  ADDED  SHAHp's    "  LAW  OF  PASSIVE  OBEDIENCE,"  AND  AN 
EXTRACT   FROM  HIS    "  LAW  OF  RETRIBUTION." 


BY    CHARLES   STUART. 


NEW. YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  THE  AMERICAN  ANTI-SLAVERY  SOCIETY, 

No-  144  Nassau  Street. 


WILLIAM    S-     DORR,     PRINTER 

1836. 


S 


CONTENTS. 


Section  I.                                          Page 
G.  Sharp's  birth  &c— Slavery  in  England— Jonathan    Strong- 
Sharp's  Prosecution  and  Challenge — Triumph— Thomas  Lewis — 
Sharp's  Principles. 5 

Section  II. 
James  Somerset— Mr.  Davy's  Argument— Sharp's  Letter  to  Lord 
North— Extract    from    Journal— Mr.  Mansfield's   Argument- 
Mr.    Hargrave's— Mr.   Alleyne's— Mr.     Wallace's— Mr.     Dun- 
ning's — Lord  Mansfield's  Judgment — Observations 10 

Section  III. 
Sharp  finds  Coadjutors  in  BenezeT,  Franklin,  and'  Rush— Investi- 
gates the  Revolutionary  contest  and  condemns  the  Government- 
Resigns  his  Off.ce  under  Government— Omai— Gen.  Oglethorpe— 
Settlement  of  Georgia— Sharp's- sentiments  on  "Necessity"  and 
Justice— Extract  from  a  Letter  to  Archbishop  of  York— Las  Casas 
Bishop  of  Chiapa— Case  of  the  Zong— Dr.  Hinchcliff;  Bishop  of 
Peterborough— Harry  Demane— Correspondence  with  Franklin 
and  Jay— Colleges  of  R  Island,  Massachusetts,  and  Virginia- 
Emancipated  Slaves  in  distress  in  England — Mr.   Smeatham 

Sierra  Leone— Settlement  and  description  of  Sierra  Leone — Ob- 
servations upon  Tropical  climates— Progress  of  the  Settlement- 
Settlement  transferred  by  Sharp  to  a  Commercial  Company- 
War— Nova  Scotia  Settlers — Dreadful  sickness  and  mortality 

French  attack — Deserter's  town  refugees — Observations  on  civi-  » 

lized    arrogance — Maroons— Government   assumed   by   Kino- 

Naimbana — Reflections  on  Naimbana's  foresight 20 


',46137 


I 


4  CONTENTS. 

Section  IV. 

African  Slave  trade  attacked — Slave  produce — Prosecution  of  the 
attack — Legal  Abolition  of  African  Slave  trade — Sharp's  charac- 
teristic views — Wm.  Pitt  and  Thos.  Clarkson — Sharp's  exculpa- 
tion of  himself — Bible  Society — African  Institution — African  feel- 
ings towards  White  men  prior  to  Sierra  Leone — Object  of  African 
Institution — General  features  of  Sharp — Sir  Wm.  Jones — Ap- 
proaching death — "  Departure" — General  Observations 53 

Section  V. 

The  Colonization  favored  by  Granville  Sharp  compared  with  that  of 
the  American  Colonization  Society 66 

APPENDIX. 

1.  Quotations  of  various  Legal  Authorities. 85 

2.  The  Trelawney  Refugees 89 

3.  Observations  upon  Sierra  Leone ;  and  questions  for  exercise  at 
leiure  hours. 90 

LAW  OP  PASSIVE  OBEDIENCE 95 

EXTRACT  FROM  LAW  OF  RETRIBUTION 135 


MEMOIR. 


SECTION    I. 


Granville  Sharp  was  born  at  Durham  in  England,  on 
10th  November,  1735.  His  earlier  education  was  limited. 
In  1750,  he  was  apprenticed,  in  London,  to  a  Friend — after- 
wards to  an  Independent — and  subsequently  to  a  Romanist. 
This  intercourse  with  different  persuasions,  appears  to  have 
had  no  effect  upon  his  own  creed — but  he  learnt  from  it, 
one  of  the  most  glorious  lessons  which  man  can  learn,  the 
cordial  practice  of  that  gracious  charity,  which  "  vaunteth 
not  itself" — "  which  suffereth  long  and  is  kind." 

Collision  with  a  Socinian,  who  boasted  that  the  original 
language  of  the  New  Testament  favored  his  views,  led 
Sharp  to  study  the  Greek — and  controversy  with  a  Jew, 
impelled  him  to  the  acquisition  of  the  Hebrew.  "  To  be 
ignorant  of  the  truth,  was  to  him  a  source  of  inexpressible 
pain  ;  and  to  neglect  the  means  of  acquiring  it,  intolerable 
disgrace." 

In  1757-8,  he  lost  his  parents — and  from  that  time,  he 
served  the  Government,  in  the  Ordnance  Department,  until 
the  beginning  of  the  American  war,  in  1776,  his  prospects 
in  life  depending  upon  his  situation.  But  duty,  not  interest, 
was  his  law  ;  and  when  he  found,  that  if  he  retained  his 
office,  he  must  be  accessory  to  bloodshed,  he  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  resign.  In  this,  as  throughout  life,  he  evinced,  that 
eternal  truth,  according  to  the  scriptures,  was  his  chief 
study — and  "glory  to  God  in  the  highest — and  on  earth, 
peace,  good  will  to  men"  his  great  end.     The  pursuits  of 

1 


D  MEMOIR    OF 

his  subsequent  life  were  various  ;  but  an  ardent  love  of  holy 
and  impartial  liberty,  always  eminently  distinguished  him, 
and  to  the  sufferers  of  wrong,  he  was  invariably  an  active 
and  disinterested  friend. 

At  this  time  slavery  had  disgraced  the  British  Colonies  in 
America  and  in  the  West  Indies,  for  two  hundred  years. 
The  righteous  laws  of  the  empire,  had  been  evaded  or  per- 
verted ;  and  opinion  and  precedent  bad  been  substituted  for 
law.  Rulers  and  people  had  bowed  down  to  the  abomi- 
nation. The  Church  and  the  world  had  given  it,  their 
sanction.  The  most  distinguished  lawyers  crouched  be- 
neath the  lie,  and  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  the  day,  affirmed 
its  validity.  Truth  and  love,  religion  and  humanity,  were 
trampled  upon  without  remorse.  The  inalienable  rights 
of  man,  "  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness"  were 
given  to  the  winds  ;  and  Britain,  boasting  of  her  love  for 
liberty,  was  a  slave-mistress  ;  a  slave-dealer  ;  and  a  car- 
rier of  slaves. 

In  the  course  of  this  hypocritical  and  ferocious  system, 
the  slave  masters  of  the  west,  had  long  been  in  the  habit 
of  bringing  over  domestic  slaves,  to  serve  them,  presuming 
that  they  could  transfer  their  'pirate -rights  to  England.  But 
their  poor  slaves  judged  better.  Every  where,  they  heard 
the  voice — every  where,  they  saw  the  step  of  liberty — 
and  they  panted  to  be  free.  The  voice  of  nature  and  of 
nature's  God,  in  them,  and  in  all  around  them,  told  them 
that  they  had  as  good  a  title  to  liberty  as  their  masters 
had — and  many  a  British  heart,  untainted  by  the  prevailing 
wickedness,  sympathized  in  their  misery  and  burnt  with  the 
same  healthful  truth.  But  the  slaveholders,  revolted  with 
indignation  from  the  interference  which  thus  arose  with 
their  tyrant  powers,  and  exultingly  spread  the  question, 
before  the  highest  officers  of  the  law.  They  had  men  to 
suit  their  purpose — York  and  Talbot,  the  Attorney  and 
Solicitor  General  of  the  day,  thoroughly  imbued  with  the 
guilt  of  the  day,  recorded  in  1729,  the  following  infamous 
opinion : 

"  We  are  of  opinion,  that  a  slave  coming  from  the  West 
Indies  into  Great  Britain  or  Ireland,  either  with  or  without 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  7 

his  master,  does  not  become  free — and  that  his  master's 
right  and  property  in  him  is  not  thereby  determined  or 
varied,"  &c. 

Then  exulted  the  slavemaster.  Then  sunk  the  soul  of 
the  slave.  The  last  citadel  on  earth  of  liberty,  seemed 
demolished — and  man  was  let  loose  to  prey  upon  man,  with- 
out restraint.  England  became  a  slave  market,  and  adver- 
tisements such  as  the  following,  disgraced  the  metropolis 
of  freedom! 

"Public  Advertiser.  Tuesday  28th  Nov.  1769. 
"To  be  sold,  a  black  girl,  the  property  of  J.  B. ;  eleven  years  of  age, 
who  is  extremely  handy,  works  at  her  needle  tolerably,  and  speaks  Eng- 
lish perfectly  well — is  of  an  excellent  temper  and  willing  disposition. 
Enquire  of  Mr.  Owen,  at  the  Angel  Inn,  behind  St.  Clement's  Church,  iu 
the  Strand." 

Mischief  framed  by  law,  yet  against  law,  thus  took  deep 
root  in  Britain.  And  the  crown  and  the  nobles — and  the 
monied  interests — and  the  church  and  the  bench  and  the 
bar,  watered  together  the  deadly  plant.  The  whole  nation 
seemed  gone  away  with  one  consent,  from  God,  and  from 
law,  and  from  its  poor  brother. 

But  God  had  more  than  seven  thousand  men  in  England, 
who  had  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal.  Rejoice,  ye  poor  ! 
the  same  God  reigns  forever,  and  the  time  is  hastening 
when  for  you,  He  shall  cry,  as  He  cried  for  them  "  For 
the  oppression  of  the  poor — for  the  sighing  of  the  needy — 
now  will  I  arise,  saith  the  Lord — I  will  set  him  in  safety 
from  him  that  pufFeth  at  him."     Ps.  xii.  5. 

In  1765,  David  Lisle,  a  lawyer  and  a  slave  master  of  Bar- 
badoes,  then  living  in  London,  nearly  killed  one  of  his 
slaves,  named  Jonathan  Strong,  by  most  brutally  beating 
him  ;  and  then  turned  him  adrift  in  the  streets.  William 
Sharp,  an  eminent  surgeon,  Granville's  brother,  residing 
in  the  neighborhood,  became  acquainted  with  the  facts  and 
got  Strong  admitted  to  Bartholomew's  Hospital.  There 
he  was  partially  cured — but  his  sight  remained  so  dim  in 
consequence  of  the  wounds  received  on  his  head,  that  he 
continued  to  need  aid  from  the  brothers,  and  was  by  them 
put  into  the  service  of  a  benevolent  apothecary,  named 
Brown,  in  Fenchurch  street.    He  served  Brown  about  two 


8  MEMOIR    OF 

years,  and  was  gradually  recovering,  when  his  former 
master,  David  Lisle,  met  and  recognized  him  one  day  in 
the  streets.  David  Lisle  immediately  laid  his  plan  ;  had 
Strong  seized  soon  after  by  legal  authority,  and  lodged  in 
the  Poultry  Compter.  The  poor  man  made  known  his 
case,  as  quickly  as  possible  to  Granville  Sharp. 

On  the  18th  September,  1767,  the  cause  was  tried  at 
the  Mansion  House,  and  the  Lord  Mayor  finding  no  evi- 
dence against  him,  told  Strong  that  he  was  at  liberty.  "  I 
seize  him,"  grasping  Strong's  arm,  exclaimed  Captain 
Laird,  who  attended  on  the  part  of  the  prosecutor,  "  as  the 
property  of  Mr.  Kerr."  "  And  /  charge  you"  said  Gran- 
ville Sharp  severely,  tapping  him  on  the  shoulder,  "  for  an 
assault."  Capt.  Laird,  alarmed,  immediately  relinquished 
his  lawless  hold,  and  Strong  went  forth  unimpeded. 

For  this  procedure,  Granville  Sharp,  was  charged  with 
robbery,  by  David  Lisle,  and  received  a  challenge  to  give 
gentlemanlike  satisfaction.  "  You  are  a  lawyer,"  said 
Sharp,  "  and  you  shall  want  no  satisfaction  which  the  law 
can  give  you." 

But  the  lawyers  whom  Sharp  consulted  declared  that  the 
laws  were  against  him.  Sir  James  Eyre,  Recorder  of  the 
City,  whom  he  retained  as  his  counsel,  adduced  to  him, 
York  and  Talbot's  opinion,  and  informed  him  that  Lord 
Chief  Justice  Mansfield,  agreed  with  these  gentlemen. 

Did  he  yield  ;  No — Not  "  like  the  tender  blossom,  warm 
in  summer  bowers"  was  he — but  like  the  storm-rocked 
oak,  which  "each  assailing  blast,  increase  of  strength  sup- 
plies." Eternal  law  was  written  on  his  bosom — the  eternal 
law  of  righteousness  and  love.  He  would  not  believe  that 
the  laws  of  his  country  could  be  so  utterly  at  variance 
with  it,  and  he  determined  to  probe  the  matter  to  the  bottom. 
He  began  an  intense  and  comprehensive  study  of  British 
law  ;  and  his  enemies,  dubious  of  their  boasted  grounds, 
artfully  protracting  the  trial,  allowed  him  all  the  leisure 
which  he  needed.  In  this  difficult  task,  he  had  no  instruc- 
tor but  God — no  assistant,  except  his  own  diligence — no 
encourager,  except  his  conscience.  The  result  of  his  re- 
search was  a  tract,  "  On  the  injustice  and  dangerous  ten* 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  \f 

dency  of  tolerating  Slavery,  or  even  of  admitting  the  least 
claim  to  private  property  in  thepersons  of  men,  in  England." 
The  arguments  contained  in  it,  were  irresistible,  and  by  its 
success,  he  amply  fulfilled  his  promise  to  his  antagonist. 
After  about  two  years  suspense,  the  prosecution  was 
abandoned,  and  the  plaintiff  was  compelled  to  pay  treble 
costs  for  not  bringing  forward  the  action. 

But  the  slaveholders,  though  once  defeated,  were  not 
humbled.  Tyrants  do  not  readily  repent  or  easily  relax 
their  grasp.      The  battle  was  but  begun. 

In  1770,  an  African  named  Thomas  Lewis  had  left  his 
master  Mr,  Stapylton,  then  residing  in  Chelsea  (London.) 
Stapylton  with  the  aid  of  two  watermen  whom  he  hired  for 
the  purpose,  taking  advantage  of  a  dark  night,  seized 
Lewis,  and  after  a  struggle,  dragged  him  off,  gagging  him 
as  well  as  they  could  in  the  hurry.  But  his  cries  were 
providentially  heard,  and  the  ship  to  which  he  had  been 
conveyed,  being  detained  in  the  Downs  by  adverse  weather, 
Lewis  was  brought  back  to  London  by  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  obtained  and  forwarded  by  the  diligence  of  Gran- 
ville Sharp,  supported  by  Mrs.  Banks,  the  mother  of  the 
celebrated  traveler  and  naturalist  Sir  Joseph  Banks.  This 
rescue  is  described  in  the  following  words  by  Thomas 
Clarkson  in  his  History  of  the  Abolition  of  the  African 
Slave  Trade  :  "  The  vessel  had  reached  the  Downs  and 
had  actually  got  under  way  for  the  West  Indies.  In  a 
few  hours,  it  would  have  been  out  of  sight.  Just  at  this 
critical  moment,  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was  carried  on 
board.  The  officer  who  served  it  saw  the  miserable  cap- 
tive chained  to  the  mainmast,  bathed  in  tears,  and  casting 
a  last  mournful  look  on  the  land  of  freedom.  The  Captain 
on  receiving  the  writ  became  outrageous — but  knowing 
the  serious  consequences  of  resisting  the  law  of  the  land, 
he  gave  up  his  prisoner,  whom  the  officer  carried  safe,  but 
now  weeping  for  joy  to  the  shore."  On  the  12th  July  a 
bill  was  preferred  and  found  by  the  Grand  Jury  of  Mid- 
dlesex against  Stapylton,  and  the  two  watermen,  Malony 
and  Armstrong,  in  behalf  of  Lewis,  "  without  the  least 

1* 


10  MEMOIR    OF 

demur  or  doubt  on  account  of  the  plaintiff's  complexion 
or  idea  of  private  property  urged  against  him." 

On  the  20th  February,  1771,  the  trial  was  had  at  the 
King's  Bench,  Lord  Chief  Justice  Mansfield  presiding. 
But  so  fraught  was  Mansfield's  mind  still,  with  the  £dse 
views  of  the  day,  that  although  the  jury,  found  Stapylton 
"guilty"  the  Chief  Justice  (such  is  justice  often  in  human 
hands  !)  refused  to  proceed  to  judgment,  and  the  criminals 
escaped.  Against  this  proceeding  of  the  judge,  as  against 
an  open  contempt  of  the  laws  of  England,  Sharp  prepared 
a  strong  protest.  The  principles  on  which  he  proceeded, 
are  thus  expressed  by  himself,  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Carys- 
port,  in  1781  :  "  This  is  the  compendium  or  sum  total  of 
all  my  politics,  so  that  I  include  them  in  a  very  small  com- 
pass. I  am  thoroughly  convinced  that  '  Right'  ought  to 
be  adopted  and  maintained,  on  all  occasions,  without  regard 
to  consequences  either  probable  or  possible  ;  for  these  (when 
we  have  done  our  own  duty  as  honest  men)  must  after 
all  be  left  to  the  disposal  of  Divine  Providence,  which  has 
declared  a  blessing  in  favor  of  right,  'Blessed  are  the 
keepers  of  judgment — and  he  that  doeth  righteousness  at 
all  times.'  "     Ps.  cvi.  3. 


SECTION    II. 


But  the  general  right  to  freedom  in  England  was  yet 
made  a  matter  of  opinion.  No  permanent  security  was 
obtained  against  the  pertinacious  avarice  and  tyranny  of  the 
slaveholders  and  slave-dealers.  This  question  wanted  de- 
cision and  both  parties  wished  it  decided.  The  slave 
party,  wrapt  in  selfishness  and  deluded  by  legal  sophistries, 
felt  confident  in  their  claims — and  the  friends  of  liberty, 
clothed  in  righteousness  and  firm  in  everlasting  truth,  knew 
that  British  law,  brought  forth  in  its  purity,  would  support 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  11 

them.  The  case  of  James  Somerset  was  chosen  as  the 
subject  of  trial. 

This  man  had  been  brought  to  England  in  November, 
1769,  by  his  master,  Charles  Stewart,  from  Virginia,  and 
in  process  of  time,  had  left  him.  Stewart  had  had  him 
suddenly  seized  and  carried  on  board  the  Ann  and  Mary, 
Captain  Knowles,  in  order  to  be  taken  to  Jamacia  and  there 
sold  for  a  slave. 

On  7th  February,  1772,  the  cause  was  tried  in  the  King's 
Bench,  before  Lord  Chief  Justice  Mansfield,  aided  by  Jus- 
tices Ashton,  Welles  and  Ashurst.  The  question  at  issue 
was,  "Is  every  man  in  England,  entitled  to  the  liberty  of  his 
person,  unless  forfeited  by  the  Laws  of  England  ?"  This 
was  affirmed  by  the  advocates  of  Somerset ;  and  Mr.  Ser- 
geant Davy,  who  opened  his  cause  broadly  declared,  "  that 
no  man  at  this  day  is  or  can  be,  a  slave  in  England." 

Mr.  Davy  supported  this  proposition  by  the  most  substan- 
tial documents  drawn  from  the  history  of  the  country.  He 
showed  that  the  laws  of  England  alone,  rule  in  England ; 
and  that  the  laws  of  Virginia  had  no  more  validity  in  Eng- 
land, than  the  laws  of  Japan.  He  discussed  the  argument 
of  convenience,  on  either  side  of  the  question — and  conclu- 
ded by  stating  the  authorities,  in  various  cases,  by  which  it 
had  been  decided,  that  no  man  could  here  be  the  property 
of  another.  Of  one  of  these,  he  thus  spoke  :  "  This  was 
in  the  case  of  Cartwright,  who  brought  a  slave  from  Rus- 
sia, and  would  scourge  him.  For  this, he  was  questioned — 
and  it  was  resolved,  that  England  was  too  pure  an  air  for 
slaves  to  breathe  in."  (See  Rush  worth's  Collections,  p.  468.) 
"  That  was  in  the  11th  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  I  hope  my 
Lord,  the  air  does  not  blow  worse  since — I  hope  they  will 
never  breathe  here ;  for  this  is  my  assertion,  « the  moment 
they  put  their  foot  on  English  ground,  that  moment  they  be- 
come free.3  They  are  subject  to  the  laws  and  they  are 
entitled  to  the  protection  of  the  laws  of  this  country  ;  and 
so  are  their  masters,  thank  God." 

Mr.  Sergeant  Glynn  followed  and  powerfully  supported 
Davy. 

Here  Lord  Chief  Justice  Mansfield  was  so  impressed 


12  MEMOIR    OP 

with  the  weight  of  law  in  favor  of  liberty,  yet  so  perplexed 
with  the  sophistries  of  opinion  and  precedent,  that  he  defer* 
red  the  further  discussion  of  the  case  to  the  next  term. 

Granville  Sharp  availed  himself  with  his  usual  zeal  of 
this  interval,  and  amongst  the  other  measures  by  which  he 
sought  to  secure  an  equitable  decision,  he  addressed  the 
following  letter  to  Lord  North,  dated  18th  February, 
1772. 

u  My  Lord — Presuming  that  information,  concerning 
every  question  of  a  public  nature,  must  of  course  be  agree- 
able to  your  Lordship,  1  have  ventured  to  lay  before  you 
a  little  tract,  against  tolerating  slavery  in  England. 

"  His  Majesty  has  been  pleased  lately  to  recommend  to 
Parliament  '  the  providing  new  laws  for  supplying  defects, 
or  remedying  abuses  in  such  instances  where  it  shall  be 
requisite,'  and  I  apprehend  my  Lord,  that  there  is  no  in- 
stance whatever,  which  requires  more  immediate  redress, 
than  the  present  miserable  and  deplorable  slavery  of  Ne- 
groes and  Indians,  as  well  as  white  English  servants  !  !  in 
our  colonies.  I  say,  immediate  redress,  because  to  be  in 
power  and  to  neglect,  even  a  day,  in  endeavoring  to  put  a 
stop,  to  such  monstrous  injustice  and  abandoned  wickedness, 
must  necessarily  endanger  a  man's  eternal  welfare,  be  he 
ever  so  great  in  temporal  dignity  or  office. 

"  Nevertheless  I  don't  mention  this,  as  a  subject  proper 
for  Parliamentary  consideration  :  for  the  laws  of  England 
(God  be  thanked)  are  sufficiently  clear  with  respect  to 
slavery  in  this  island.  And  though  some  enormous  outrages 
have  now  and  then  been  committed  by  ignorant  masters, 
in  attempting  to  carry  off  by  force  their  quondam  slaves, 
yet,  if  the  Judges  do  their  duty,  by  determining  according 
to  the  laws  already  in  force  (for  Judicandum  est  Legibus, 
non  Exemplis'  4  Ca.  33,  <  We  must  judge  by  law  not  by 
precedent,')  there  will  be  no  necessity  for  Parliament  to 
interfere. 

"  And  with  respect  to  the  Colonies,  the  pernicious  prac- 
tice of  slaveholding  being  tolerated  by  distinct  laws  of  their 
own,  cannot  with  propriety  fall  under  the  consideration  of 
the  British  Parliament ;  for  I  am  well  aware,  that  no  Parlia- 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  13 

ment,  can  have  a  just  right  to  enact  laws  for  places,  which 
it  does  not  represent.  The  remedy  of  these  notorious 
abuses  therefore,  rests  entirely  with  the  King  and  his  Privy 
Council,  to  recommend  to  the  several  assemblies  a  formal 
repeal  of  those  unjust  laws  of  which  I  complain. 

"  I  might  alledge  indeed,  that  many  of  the  plantation 
laws  (like  every  act  that  contains  any  thing  which  is  mal- 
um in  se,  evil  in  its  own  nature)  are  already  null  and  void 
in  themselves ;  because  they  want  every  necessary  foun- 
dation to  render  them  valid,  being  absolutely  contradictory 
to  the  laws  of  reason  and  natural  equity,  as  well  as  to  the 
laws  of  God.  Yet,  as  many  of  them  (to  the  disgrace  of 
the  English  name)  have  been  Jong  in  force,  and  have  had 
the  formal  assent  of  kings,  they  will  require  a  formal  re- 
peal by  all  the  parties,  in  order  to  preserve,  in  each  branch 
of  the  Legislature,  that  reciprocal  faith,  which  is  due  to  all 
solemn  compacts.     ***** 

"  I  have  also  sent  another  book,  on  the  same  subject, 
lately  printed  at  Philadelphia,  which  amongst  other  things 
worthy  of  notice,  contains  some  sensible  propositions  for 
abolishing  slavery  in  the  Colonies,  (see  pages  13S — 141) 
and  that  your  Lordship  may  see,  the  absolute  necessity  of 
such  a  measure  I  have  likewise  sent  a  short,  lively  repre- 
sentation in  MS.  of  the  present  state  of  slavery  in  Mary- 
land, extracted  from  a  letter,  dated  in  November  last,  from 
a  gentleman  in  that  province. 

"  Extract  of  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  in  Maryland,  to 
a  friend  in  London  : 

"  '  But  whether  I  shall  go  thither  or  return  home,  I  am 
yet  undetermined  ;  indeed  no  where  shall  I  stay  long  from 
England  ;  for  I  had  much  rather  enjoy  the  bare  necessa- 
ries of  life  there,  than  the  most  affluent  circumstances  in 
this  country  of  most  wretched  slavery.  *  *  *  There 
are  four  things  under  the  sun,  which  I  equally  abhor  and 
abominate,  viz.  slavery,  licentiousness,  pride  and  impudence, 
all  which  abound  here,  in  a  monstrous  degree. 

"  t  The  punishments  of  the  poor  negroes  and  convicts, 
are  beyond  all  conception,  being  entirely  subject  to  the 
will  of  their  savage  and  brutal  masters.     They  are  often 


14  MEMOIR    OF 

punished  for  not  doing  more  than  strength  and  nature  will 
admit  of;  and  sometimes  because  they  cannot  on  every 
occasion,  fall  in  with  their  wanton  and  capricious  humors. 
One  punishment  is  to  flay  their  backs  with  cow-hides,  or 
other  instruments  of  barbarity,  and  then  pour  on  hot  rum, 
superinduced  with  brine  or  pickle,  rubbed  in  with  a  corn 
husk,  in  the  scorching  heat  of  the  sun.  For  certain,  if 
your  judges  were  sensible  of  the  shocking  treatment  of 
the  convicts  here,  they  would  hang  every  one  of  them,  as 
infinitely  less  punishment ;  and  transport  only  those,  whose 
crimes  deserve  the  severest  death.  Better  be  hanged  seven 
hundred  times,  than  serve  seven  years  here  :  and  there  is 
no  redress,  for  magistrates  and  all,  are  equally  interested 
and  criminal.  If  I  had  a  child,  I  had  rather  see  him,  the 
humblest  scavenger  in  the  streets  of  London,  than  the 
loftiest  tyrant  in  America,  with  a  thousand  slaves  at  his 
beck.'. 

Old  Jewry,  18th  February,  1772." 

In  connexion  with  this  letter,  Granville  Sharp  adverting 
to  the  existing  slave  laws  of  the  Colonies,  says  in  his  Journal 
of  the  same  day,  (18th  Feb.  1772)  "If  such  laws  are  not 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  government  of  slaves,  the  law- 
makers must  unavoidably  allow  themselves  to  be  the  most 
cruel  and  abandoned  tyrants  upon  earth,  and  perhaps,  that 
ever  were  on  earth.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  it  be  said 
that  it  is  impossible  to  govern  slaves,  without  such  inhuman 
severity  and  detestable  injustice,  the  same  is  an  invincible 
argument  against  the  least  toleration  of  slavery  among 
christians  ;  because  temporal  profits,  cannot  compensate 
the  forfeiture  of  everlasting  welfare' — that  the  cries  of  these 
much  injured  people  will  certainly  reach  heaven — that  the 
scriptures  denounce  a  tremendous  judgment  against  the 
man,  who  shall  offend  one  little  one — that  it  were  better  for 
the  nation  that  their  American  dominions  had  never  existed, 
or  even  that  they  had  sunk  in  the  sea,  than  that  the  king, 
dom  of  Great  Britain  should  be  loaded  with  the  horrid 
guilt  of  tolerating  such  abominable  wickedness,"  &c. 

It  ought  to  be  remembered  that  while  Granville  Sharp, 
thus  boldly  remonstrated  with  the  Government  of  his  coun. 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  15 

try,  he  filled  a  government  situation  and  was  dependant  for 
his  present  subsistence,  and  for  his  future  prospects  in  life, 
upon  the  Ministry  of  the  day. 

The  tract  above  mentioned  as  having  lately  been  printed 
in  Philadelphia,  was  from  the  pen  of  the  excellent  Anthony 
Benezet,  a  brother  in  heart  and  in  deed  of  Granville  Sharp. 
On  9th  May,  the  trial  of  Somerset's  case,  was  resumed. 
Mr.  Mansfield  conducted  the  defence.     He  contended, 
that  "If  Somerset  was  a  man — and  he  should  conclude  him 
one,  till  proved  otherwise — he  could  not  be  a  slave  in  Eng- 
land.    The  dispute,"  he  said,  "  was  between  one  human 
creature  and  another,  the  master  and  the  negro,  whether 
the  latter  was  entitled  to  the  important  rights  which  nature 
had  given  him.     To  the  charge  that  he  was  a  slave,  the 
negro  might  very  well  answer,  '  True,  I  was  a  slave  ;  torn 
from  my  mother's  arms,  I  was  put  in  chains  on  board  a 
British  ship  and  carried  to  America — I  was  there  placed 
under  a  master,  from  whose  tyranny,  I  could  not  escape  : 
if  I  had  attempted  it,  I  should  have  been  exposed  to  the 
severest  punishment  ;   and  never  from  the  first  moment  of 
my  life  to  the  present  time,  have  I  been  in  a  situation  to 
assert  the  common  rights  of  mankind.     I  am  now  in  a 
country  where  the  rights  of  liberty  are  known  and  regard- 
ed ;   and  can  you  tell  me  the  reason,  why  I  am  not  to  be 
protected  by  those  laws  V     To  have  such  a  question  an- 
swered," continued  Mr.  Mansfield,  "consistently  with  those 
laws,  seems  to  me  impossible — for,  on  the  contrary,  he  is 
as  fully  and  clearly  entitled  to  the  protection  of  those  laws, 
as  any  one  who  now  hears  me." 

At  the  end  of  Mr.  Mansfield's  speech,  the  case  was  ad- 
journed to  the  14th  May. 

Mr.  Hargrave  then  proceeded  with  the  defence. 
"  If,"  said  he,  "the  claim  of  Stewart  over  Somerset,  be 
here  recognized,  domestic  slavery,  with  its  horrid  train  of 
evils,  may  be  lawfully  imported  into  this  country,  at  the 
discretion  of  every  foreigner  or  native.  It  will  come,  not 
only  from  our  own  Colonies,  but  from  Poland,  Russia, 
Spain  and  Turkey — from  the  coast  of  Barbary  ;  from  the 
eastern  and  western  coasts  of  Africa ;  from  every  part  of 


16  MEMOIR    OF 

the  world,  where  it  still  continues  to  torment  and  dishonor 
the  human  species."  He  then  examined,  1st.  The  right 
claimed  by  Stewart  over  the  person  of  Somerset — and  2d. 
The  authority  on  which  that  right  was  rested.  He  decla- 
red that  in  "  whatever  light  we  view  it,  slavery  is  alike  per- 
nicious  to  the  person  who  suffers  it,  to  the  person  who  in- 
flicts it,  and  to  the  government  which  allows  its  existence." 
He  traced  the  history  of  European  negro  slavery — recorded 
the  interesting  fact,  that  Charles  V.  in  1740,  abolished  it  in  his 
dominions  ;  and  the  greedy  and  disgraceful  return  to  it  of 
the  masters,  as  soon  as  the  imperial  prohibition  could  be 
evaded.  He  traced  the  history  of  Villeinage  in  England, 
and  demonstrated  that  no  right  could  thereon  be  founded 
to  the  claims  of  the  slaveholder. 

Mr.  Alleyne  closed  the  proceedings  on  the  same  side. 
He  examined  the  distinction  between  natural  and  municipal 
rights — the  one  of  which  attaches  alike  to  all  men  in  every 
country — the  other  is  peculiar  to  times,  circumstances  and 
places.  "  The  right  of  slavery  "  he  continued,  "  not  being 
from  nature,  cannot  be  imported  from  another  country. 
Natural  relations,  are  inherent  in  the  nature  of  things,  and 
nothing  can  annul  them.  They  arise  from  the  relation 
which  a  man  bears  to  mankind  in  general ;  and  his  moral 
duty  results  from  them.  He  cannot  therefore,  change  his 
natural  relations — they  are  universal.  Municipal  relations 
are  such  as  arise  from  being  a  member  of  the  particular 
country,  where  they  exist.  It  appears  that  by  the  laws  of 
Virginia,  this  man  is  a  slave — but  the  laws  of  Virginia,  rule 
not  in  England.  In  this  country,  how  can  this  man  be  a 
slave,  where  the  meanest  have  a  title  to  enjoy  the  rights  of 
freedom.  This  man  is  here.  He  owes  submission  to  the 
laws  of  England,  and  he  has  a  corresponding  right  to  the 
protection  of  these  laws — he  elaims  that  protection — and 
when"  added  he,  "  the  judgment  of  this  Court  is  given, 
Stewart,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  slaveholders,  will  know, 
that  this  air  is  too  free  for  a  slave  to  breathe  in." 

The  cause  of  the  slave  party  was  supported  by  two  able 
and  eloquent  men,  Messrs.  Wallace  and  Dunning.  Mr. 
Wallace  spoke  immediately  after  Mr.  Alleyne,  and  dwelt 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  17 

mainly  upon  the  inconvenience,  absurdity  and  injustice  of 
divesting  a  man  of  his  rightful  property !  !  only  because  he 
sailed,  in  pursuit  of  his  lawful  business,  from  one  country  to 
another !  ! 

The  cause  was  adjourned  to  the  21st.  The  confidence 
of  Lord  Mansfield,  in  York  and  Talbot's  judgment,  was 
plainly  shaken ;  but  his  leaning  was  yet  clearly  to  their 
opinion. 

On  the  21st  the  trial  was  resumed,  and  Mr.  Dunning  sup- 
ported  the  claims  of  despotism.  Confounding  the  relation 
of  master  and  servarit,  with  the  relation  of  master  and  slave, 
he  insisted  upon  the  universal  and  indispensable  necessity 
of  that  relation.  Mr,  Davy  replied,  and  tore  his  cobweb 
to  pieces. 

Lord  Mansfield  delayed  judgment,  and  twice  threw  out 
a  suggestion,  "  that  the  master  might  put  an  end  to  the 
present  litigation  by  manumitting  the  slave ;"  but  the  base 
suggestion  was  providentially  not  attended  to.  The  judg- 
ment was  demanded ;  and  the  judgment  was  given  on 
Monday,  22d  June,  1772.  After  much  lawyer-like  cir- 
cumlocution, Lord  Mansfield  decided  as  follows : 

"  Immemorial  usage  preserves  the  memory  of  positive 
law,  long  after  all  traces  of  the  occasion,  reason,  authority 
and  time  of  its  introduction  are  lost ;  and  in  a  case  so  odious 
as  the  condition  of  slaves,  must  be  taken  strictly ;  {tracing 
the  subject  to  natural  principles,  the  claim  of  slavery  never 
can  be  supported.)  The  power  claimed  by  this  return,  never 
was  in  use  here.  We  cannot  say  the  cause  set  forth  by 
this  return,  is  allowed  or  approved  of  by  the  laws  of  this 
kingdom,  and  therefore  the  man  must  be  discharged.5' 

Here  some  important  facts  and  observations  present 
themselves.  In  this  case,  we  have  1st.  a  most  instructive 
and  delightful  instance  of  the  power  of  truth — and  of  the 
impartial  justice  of  British  law.  The  iniquitous  web  of 
legality  is  unwoven.  The  perversions  of  legislation,  origi- 
nating in  the  highest  authorities,  supported  by  the  greatest 
names,  defended  by  a  powerful  faction  and  assented  to  by 
almost  every  body,  are  detected  and  swept  away.  Law, 
ceasing  to  frame  mischief,  is  restored  to  its  own  wholesome 

2 


18  MEMOIR    OP 

and  glorious  character,  as  the  handmaid  of  equity — and 
one  of  the  first  lawyers  of  the  age,  placed  at  the  fountain 
head  of  justice,  and  freed  by  the  gathered  effulgence  of 
truth,  from  the  sophisms  of  his  character  and  his  class, 
casts  off  his  prejudices  and  restores  to  liberty,  her  resting 
place  on  earth. 

2d.  We  have  a  deplorable  instance  of  the  corruptions 
of  legal  practice.  Mr.  Dunning,  who  supported  tyranny 
in  the  case  of  Somerset,  had  previously  been  one  of  the 
most  bright  and  efficient  defenders  of  liberty.  He  was  the 
chief  advocate  in  the  case  of  Thomas  Lewis,  in  1771,  and 
then  triumphantly  declared,  that  no  man  can  be  legally  de- 
tained as  a  slave  in  England.  Granville  Sharp's  observa- 
tions upon  this  tergiversation,  are  worthy  of  record,  and 
should  ring  like  warning  thunder  upon  every  lawyer's 
heart.  "  This  is  an  abominable  and  insufferable  practice 
in  lawyers,  to  undertake  causes  diametrically  opposite  to 
their  own  declared  opinions  of  law  and  justice." 

3d.  We  are  encouraged  in  assailing  wickedness,  however 
inveterate  it  may  have  grown — however  fearful  the  power 
which  supports  it — however  great  the  influence  and  the 
talent  and  the  learning  which  may  be  arrayed  in  its  defence ! 
In  the  case  before  us,  perversion  of  law,  supported  by  the 
practice  of  almost  half  a  century,  had  become  as  law  itself. 
The  abuse  was  admitted  into  all  the  courts,  and  was  sustain- 
ed by  almost  every  lawyer.  The  fountains  of  justice  were 
corrupted  ;  and  the  tyrant  doctrine  of  right  being  confined 
to  a  particular  class,  while  another  class  was  mercilessly 
bereaved  of  every  right,  lorded  it  over  the  land.  Britain, 
in  boasting  of  liberty,  was  a  hypocrite ;  for  her  liberty 
was  licentiousness  ;  the  dreadful  licentiousness  practiced  by 
the  learned  and  rich,  of  plundering  and  oppressing  without 
remorse,  the  ignorant  and  the  poor.  In  the  midst  of  this 
wickedness,  a  man  with  a  single  eye  to  God,  arose  !  What 
was  darkness  through  sophistry,  to  the  highest  intellects 
and  to  the  deepest  scholarship  of  the  mighty  minds  around 
him,  to  him  was  light.  No  selfishness — no  partiality — no 
prejudice — no  pride — no  fear  or  idolatry  of  man,  clouded 
the  light  of  eternal  equity  and  love,  which  burnt  in  his  bo- 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  19 

som.  He  moved  right  on,  as  his  Saviour  led  him ;  and 
others,  won  by  the  loveliness  of  truth  shining  in  him,  came 
up  with  him  to  the  advocacy  of  righteousness.  Satan 
raged — then  trembled — then  fell — and  the  fresh  ocean  air 
of  Britain  again  became  too  pure  for  a  slave  to  breathe  in. 
It  may  here  be  observed,  that  Stewart,  in  prosecuting  his 
tyrant  claim  against  Somerset,  was  supported  by  the 
mighty  influence  and  wealth  of  the  West  Indian  faction. 

4th.  We  are  taught  the  liability  to  the  basest  influences 
of  the  finest  minds — and  the  consequent  danger  of  resting 
upon  human  opinion. 

In  the  beginning  of  his  researches,  Granville  Sharp  had 
found  and  noted  the  following  passage  in  Blackstone's  Com- 
mentaries, Book  I,  page  123,  edition  1st.-  "And  this  spirit 
of  liberty,  is  so  deeply  implanted  in  our  Constitution,  and 
rooted  even  in  our  very  soil,  that  a  slave  or  a  negro,  the 
moment  he  lands  in  England,  falls  under  the  protection  of 
the  laws,  and  with  regard  to  all  national  rights,  becomes 
eo  instanti  a  freeman." 

This  passage  being  quoted  in  one  of  the  trials,  was  tri- 
umphantly repelled  by  the  opposite  counsel,  who  produced 
the  volume  from  which  the  quotation  was  made,  and  instead 
of  the  words  as  noted  by  Granville  Sharp,  read  as  follows  : 
"A  negro,  the  moment  he  lands  in  England,  falls  under  the 
protection  of  the  laws,  and  so  far  becomes  a  freeman; 
though  the  master's  right  to  his  service  may  possibly  re- 
main." Upon  further  investigation,  it  was  found  that  in 
the  course  of  the  trials,  Dr.  Blackstone  himself,  had  made 
this  alteration  in  the  subsequent  editions  ;  thus  exhibiting 
man's  dreadful  liability  to  corrupt  influence,  and  the  great- 
ness of  the  debt  of  gratitude  which  we  owe  to  God,  for 
raising  up  in  the  moment  of  emergency,  such  a  vindicator 
of  his  ti'uth  as  Granville  Sharp. 

Thus  were  the  British  Isles  delivered  from  slavery. 
Thus  became  they  cities  of  refuge  for  the  slave  !  Let  him 
but  land  there,  and  miserable  as  the  roof  might  be  under 
which  he  slept,  he  slept  in  safety  !  No  more  was  he  liable 
to  be  hunted  through  the  streets  as  a  beast  of  prey  !  He 
walked  secure  by  the  side  of  the  stately  ship,  and  feared  no 


20  MEMOIR    OF 

longer  a  dungeon  in  her  hold.  He  was  free  to  exercise 
his  industry,  and  secure  in  the  fruits  of  his  toil.  His  wife 
was  his  wife,  and  his  children  his  children,  and  no  longer 
the  property  of  a  tyrant — and  no  more  went  up  the  cry  of 
his  wrongs  and  of  his  blood  to  God  against  the  land. 

It  is  true  indeed,  that  for  a  considerable  time  after  this, 
the  country  was  disgraced  at  times,  by  ignorant  or  law- 
less men  ;  as  for  instance,  in  1779  the  following  adver- 
tisement was  made  at  Liverpool,  on  15th  October  ;  "  To  be 
sold  by  auction,  at  George  Dunbar's  office,  on  Thursday 
next,  the  21st  inst.,  at  one  o'clock,  a  black  boy,  about  four- 
teen years  old,"  &c.  But  these  were  merely  as  the  last 
lashings  of  the  wave,  when  the  storm  recedes  from  the 
shore.     They  have  long  ceased.* 


SECTION   III. 


On  22d  June,  1772,  the  day  on  which  it  was  judged  in 
Sergeant  Davy's  words,  by  Lord  Mansfield's  decision,  that 
"  as  soon  as  any  slave,  sets  his  foot  on  English  ground,  he 
becomes  free"  Granville  Sharp  received  a  letter  from  An- 
thony Benezet,  and  for  several  years  after  kept  up  a  cor- 
respondence with  him  on  the  most  important  subjects  of  hu- 
manity and  of  practical  religion.  Benezet,  in  his  first  letter, 
dated  Philadelphia,  14th  of  5th  month,  (May)  1772,  urges 
Sharp  to  attack  the  African  slave  trade,  and  speaks  of  the 
disposition  of  thousands  in  Maryland  and  Virginia,  to  sup- 
port him  with  petitions.  "  The  people  of  New  England," 
he  says,  "  have  made  a  law,  that  nearly  amounts  to  a  pro- 
hibition of  the  trade,  and  I  am  informed,  have  proposed  to 
the  Governor  and  Council,  that  all  negroes  born  in  the 
country,  should  be  free  at  a  certain  age.  I  know  the 
flood  of  impiety  and  selfishness,  which  as  a  torrent  seems 

*  Note,  see  Appendix,  No.  I.,  for  some  of  the  principles  of  eternal  and 
British  Law,  on  which  Granville  Sharp  proceeded. 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  21 

to  overflow,  will  be  a  great  discouragement :  but,  let  us  re- 
member, that  the  Lord's  power,  is  above  the  power  of  dark- 
ness ! !     His  hand  is  not  shortened,  that  it  cannot  save  by 
few,  as  well  as  by  many." 

Sharp,  replying  in  a  letter  dated  Old  Jewry,  London, 
August  21,  1772,  declares  his  cordial  sympathy  with  the 
writer,  and  urges  petitions  "  against  the  toleration  of  slavery 
in  the  Colonies  " 

Sharp's  correspondence  was  subsequently  extended  to 
Benjamin  Franklin,  and  to  Dr.  Rush.  In  a  letter  of  the 
latter,  dated  Philadelphia,  1st  May,  1773,  are  the  following 
interesting  words :  "  A  spirit  of  humanity  and  religion 
begins  to  awaken,  in  several  of  the  Colonies,  in  favor  of  the 
poor  negroes.  The  clergy  begin  to  bear  a  public  testimony 
against  this  violation  of  the  laws  of  nature  and  Christianity. 
Great  events  have  been  brought  about  by  small  beginings. 
Anthony  Benezet  stood  alone  a  few  years  ago,  in  opposing 
negro  slavery  in  Philadelphia  ;  and  now  three-fourths  of  the 
province,  as  well  as  of  the  city,  cry  out  against  it,"  &c. 

Sharp,  in  the  course  of  this  correspondence  with  America, 
was  led  to  investigate  the  nature  of  the  contest  between  the 
Colonies  and  the  mother  country,  and  in  1774,  published  a 
tract,  entitled  "A  declaration  of  the  people's  natural  rights 
to  a  share  in  the  Legislature,  which  is  the  fundamental 
principle  of  the  British  Constitution."  Of  this  he  gave  250 
copies  to  Dr.  Franklin,  who  despatched  them  to  America 
the  same  day.  The  tract  was  immediately  and  extensively 
republished  in  the  Colonies.  In  this  tract,  he  displayed 
the  intrepid  and  impartial  love  which  ever  glowed  in  his 
bosom,  for  "  the  real  rights  of  men."  He  saw  the  Colonies 
oppressed,  and  he  became  at  once  their  advocate.  Happy 
indeed,  for  them  and  for  the  world  would  it  have  been,  if 
their  love  for  rights,  had  been  impartial  and  magnanimous 
like  his.  Then  indeed,  had  slavery  ceased  with  the  do- 
minion of  Britain  from  the  United  States,  and  instead  of  re- 
maining as  they  now  emphatically  are,  "  the  land  of  the 
brave  and  the  home  of  the  slave,"  they  would  have  been, 
with  a  glory  before  unknown  to  earth,  *  the  land  of  the 
brave  and  the  home  of  the  free." 

2* 


22  MEMOIR    OF 

On  28th  July,  1775,  accounts  reached  the  Ordnance  Board, 
at  Westminster,  of  the  battle  of  Charlestown,  near  Boston, 
and  Granville  Sharp,  immediately  making  known  to  his  su- 
periors in  office,  his  sentiments  in  relation  to  the  contest, 
and  his  repugnance  to  all  war,  took  a  furlough  of  two 
months,  in  hopes  that  peace  might  yet  be  restored.  The 
following  extract  from  a  letter,  as  his  furlough  was  expiring, 
to  Mr.  Boddington,  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  department, 
is  quite  in  character  :  "  Bamburgh  Castle,  Northumberland, 
26th  Sept.  1775 ;  Dear  Sir — As  the  term  of  my  absence  will 
expire  in  a  few  days,  and  there  is  not  yet  any  change  of 
public  measures  respecting  America,  though  the  petition 
lately  brought  over  by  Mr.  Penn,  had  given  me  some  hopes 
of  it,  I  now  begin  to  be  anxious  about  my  own  particular 
situation  ;  for,  as  my  opinions  on  that  subject  are  established, 
I  cannot  return  to  my  ordnance  duty,  whilst  a  bloody  war 
is  carried  on,  unjustly  as  I  conceive,  against  my  fellow  sub- 
jects :  and  yet,  to  resign  my  place,  would  be  to  give  up  a 
calling,  which  by  my  close  attendance  to  it  for  nearly 
eighteen  years,  and  by  my  neglect  of  every  other  means  of 
subsistence  during  so  long  a  period,  is  now  become  my  only 
profession  and  livelihood,"  &c.  His  furlough  was  readily 
prolonged  ;  but  on  10th  April,  1777,  all  hopes  of  peace  hav- 
ing ceased,  he  finally  resigned  his  office.  Thus  stood  the 
protector  of  the  helpless,  destitute  himself  of  the  means  of 
subsistence.  But  his  brothers,  James  and  William,  proved 
brothers  indeed.  They  revered  that  sacred  sense  of  duty 
which  had  deprived  him  of  a  handsome  provision,  and  they 
strove  together  to  compensate  his  loss.  His  company, 
always  a  treasure  to  them,  was  now  doubly  dear,  and  for 
several  years  he  became  their  companion  and  guest.  The 
following  lines,  some  time  previously,  were  addressed  to 

him  by Payne,  Esq.,  one  of  the  Directors  of  the  Bank 

of  England ; 

"  Wise,  learned,  meek,  with  reverential  love 
Of  God's  just  laws,  and  love  of  man  full  fraught, 
O  may  thy  labors  by  the  midnight  lamp 
Pour  day's  effulgence  on  thy  country's  darkness; 
Teach  lawyers  rectitude — teach  statesmen  truth — 
Teach  tyrants  justice;  and  the  willing  hind, 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  23 

Lord  of  his  little  freehold,  teach  to  prize 

His  deep  responsibilities,  and  deem 

His  own  rights  sacred  as  the  rights  of  monarchs. 

But  should  the  voice  of  warning  not  be  heard; 

Should  this  devoted  nation,  left  of  God, 

Worship  hell's  blackest  demon,  lawless  power; 

And  driven  by  pride  and  wrath,  precipitate 

Her  hasty  strides,  through  streams  of  kindred  blood 

Hastening  to  dissolution — Then,  Oh  then 

May  thy  just  spirit,  gentle,  humble,  firm, 

Marking  with  pitying  eye  the  storm  of  wrath, 

Rise  peaceful  to  its  native  heaven, 

All  buoyant  on  the  wing  of  spotless  liberty." 


In  1775,  Omai,  a  native  of  Waieta,  was  brought  to  Eng- 
land. Granville  Sharp  hoping  through  him  to  benefit  his 
native  land,  sought  his  acquaintance  and  devoted  a  portion 
of  leisure  to  his  instruction.  At  one  of  their  meetings,  the 
following  conversation  took  place.  Omai,  like  all  his  peo- 
ple, was  addicted  to  polygamy,  and  had  no  idea  of  its 
cruelty  and  turpitude — but  he  was  endowed  with  that 
native  intelligence,  that  natural  power  of  discriminating 
between  right  and  wrong,  which  is  independent  of  learn- 
ing, and  which  is  often  fairest  in  the  most  uncultivated 
minds.      Granville  Sharp  thus  records  the  conversation  : 

"  When  sitting  with  him  at  table  one  day  after  dinner,  I 
thought  it  a  good  opportunity  to  explain  to  him  the  ten 
commandments.  I  proceeded  with  tolerable  success,  in 
reciting  the  first  six.  He  had  nothing  to  object  against 
any  of  them,  though  many  explications  were  required,  be- 
fore he  understood  all  the  terms  ;  and  he  freely  nodded  his 
assent.  But  when  I  recited  the  seventh  commandment, 
'Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery  ;'  he  cried,  *  Adultery  ! 
what  that  ?  what  that  V 

"  It  is  I  said,  that  if  a  man  has  got  one  wife,  he  must 
not  take  another  wife,  or  any  other  woman.  f  Oh,'  said  he, 
{ two  wives,  very  good — three  wives,  very,  very  good.' 
No,  Omai,  said  I,  not  so — that  would  be  contrary  to  the 
first  principle  of  the  law  of  nature.  *  First  principle  of  law 
of  nature,'  said  he,  '  what  that  ?  what  that  V  The  first 
'principle  of  the  law  of  nature  is,  I  said,  that  no  man  must 
do  to  another  person,  any  thing  that  he  would  not  like  to  he 


24  MEMOIR    OF 

done  to  himself.  For  example,  suppose  you,  Omai,  have 
got  a  wife  that  you  love  very  much — would  you  like  another 
man  to  come  and  love  your  wife  ?  This  raised  his  indig- 
nation— he  put  on  a  furious  countenance  and  a  threatening 
posture,  signifying  that  he  would  kill  any  man  that  should 
meddle  with  his  wife.  Well  then,  Omai,  I  said,  suppose 
that  your  wife  loves  you  very  much,  she  would  not  like 
that  you  should  love  another  woman.  For  women  have 
the  same  passions  and  feelings  and  love  towards  man,  which 
we  have  towards  woman — and  we  ought,  therefore,  to 
regulate  our  behavior  towards  them,  by  our  own  feelings 
of  what  we  should  like  and  expect  of  faithful  love  and  duty 
from  them,  towards  ourselves. 

"  This  new  view  of  the  case  produced  a  deep  considera- 
tion and  silence  for  some  time  on  the  part  of  Omai.  But 
he  soon  satisfied  me  that  he  thoroughly  comprehended  the 
due  influence  of  the  law  of  liberty,  when  it  is  applied  to  re- 
gulate, by  our  own  feelings,  the  conduct  and  behavior, 
which  we  owe  to  others.  There  was  an  inkstand  on  the 
table  with  several  pens  in  it.     He  took  one  pen  and  laid 

it  on  the  table — '  there  lies  Lord  S ,'  said  he.     Then 

he  took  another  pen  and  laid  it  down  by  the  side  of  the 

first,  and  said,  '  there  lies  Miss  W ,'  (an  accomplished 

young  lady  who  lived  in  adultery  with  Lord  S ;)  and 

then  taking  a  third  pen,  and  laying  it  on  the  table  as  far 
as  his  arm  could  reach  from  the  other  two,  he  reclined  his 
elbow  on  the  table  and  resting  his  head  on  his  hand,  in  a 

pensive  posture,  he  said,  '  and  there  lies  Lady  S and 

cry — cry  !'  " 

The  heart  of  Granville  Sharp,  shrunk  like  the  sensitive 
plant,  from  the  very  touch  of  pollution- — and  it  responded 
buoyantly  to  every  call  of  truth  and  law,  as  the  damask 
rose  expands  when  heaven  with  the  returning  summer 
again  showers  life  and  beauty  over  the  earth. 

On  26th  September,  1776,  he  received  the  following 
letter  from  a  new  friend  : 

"  Sir — Being  at  Woolston  Hall,  Dr.  Scott's  house,  he 
showed  me  your  'Law  of  Retribution.'  I  was  greatly 
rejoiced  to  find,  that  so  laborious  and  learned  a  man,  had 


GRANVILLE    SHARP. 


25 


appeared  as  champion  for  the  rights  of  mankind,  against 
avarice,  extortion  and  inhumanity — that  you  had,  with  an 
heroic  courage,  dared  to  press  home  on  an  infidel,  luxu- 
rious world,  the  dreadful  threats  of  the  Lord.  The  ruins 
of  Babylon,  Memphis  and  Tyre,  are  strong  mementos  to  a 
Lisbon,  a  London,  and  a  Paris,  of  the  recompense  paid  to 
those,  who  fat  their  luxuries,  on  the  labor  of  wretched 
slaves. 

"  The  Portuguese,  were  the  first  of  the  western  Chris- 
tians, who  allowed  slavery  ;  their  adventurers  stole  men 
from  Guinea  and  sold  them  as  slaves.  On  Lisbon,  the 
judgment  has  fallen.  An  unnatural  war  between  us  and 
America,  seems  to  denote  the  second — you  fairly  open 
up  the  third,  &c.  &c.  James  Oglethorpe." 

In  a  subsequent  letter,  dated  Cranham  Hall,  13th  Octo- 
ber, 1776,  General  Oglethorpe  supplies  the  following  deep- 
ly interesting  historical  facts  : 

"  My  friends  and  I  settled  the  colony  of  Georgia,  and 
by  Charter  were  established  Trustees,  to  make  laws,  &c. 
We  determined  not  to  suffer  slavery  there.  But  the  slave 
merchants  and  their  adherents,  occasioned  us  not  only 
much  trouble,  but  at  last  got  the  then  government  to  favor 
them.  We  would  not  suffer  slavery  (which  is  against  the 
Gospel  as  well  as  the  fundamental  law  of  England)  to  be 
authorized  under  our  authority  ;  we  refused  as  Trustees,  to 
make  a  law  permitting  such  a  horrid  crime.  The  Gov- 
ernment finding  the  Trustees  resolved  firmly  not  to  concur 
with  what  they  believed  unjust,  took  away  the  charter  by 
which  no  law  could  be  passed  without  our  consent.  *  *  * 

"  This  cruel  custom  of  a  private  man's  being  supported 
in  exercising  more  power  over  the  man  whom  he  affirms 
to  have  bought  as  his  slave,  than  the  magistrate  has  over  the 
master,  is  a  solecism  in  politics.  This,  I  think  was  taken 
from  the  Romans.  The  horrid  cruelty,  which  that  proud 
nation  showed  in  all  they  did,  gave  such  power  to  the 
masters  of  slaves,  that  they  confused  even  the  state-* 
Decius  Brutus,  by  the  gladiators,  his  slaves,  defended  the 


*  See  Georgia  and  South  Carolina  lately, 


26  MEMOIR    OF 

conspirators  that  killed  the  Dictator  Csesar.  The  cruelty 
of  the  slave  masters  occasioned  the  slaves  to  join  Spartacus, 
who  almost  overturned  Rome,  &c. 

"  I  find  in  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  history  of  the  Saracens, 
that  their  success,  and  the  destruction  of  the  Grecian  and 
Persian  empires,  were  chiefly  owing  to  the  Greeks  and 
Persians  having  such  vast  numbers  of  slaves,  by  whom  all 
labor  and  husbandry  were  carried  on.  And  on  the  Sara- 
cens' giving  freedom  to  all  who  professed  their  law,  the 
multitude,  in  every  conquered  province,  joined  them.  *  * 

"  The  christian  Emperors  would  have  qualified  the  laws 
of  slavery — but  the  Senate  of  Rome,  in  whom  the  old  leaven 
of  idolatry  still  prevailed,  stopped  such  good  designs.*  St. 
Austin,  in  his  "  De  Civitate  Dei,"  mentions  that  idolatry 
was  sunk  into  the  marrow  of  the  Romans — that  the  de- 
struction of  Rome  by  the  Goths  seemed  necessary  to  root 
out  idolatry.  The  Goths  and  all  the  northern  nations, 
when  converted  to  Christianity,  abolished  slavery.  The 
husbandry  was  performed  by  men  under  the  protection  of 
the  laws.  Though  some  tenures  of  villienage  were  too 
severe,  yet  the  villien  had  the  protection  of  law  ;  and  their 
lords  could  not  exact  more  than  was  by  the  laws  regu. 
lated,"  (Bracton,)  &c. 

About  this  time,  General  Oglethorpe  published,  "  The 
Sailor's  Advocate,"  against  the  impressment  of  seamen, 
and  Sharp  supplied  a  pungent  introduction  to  it.  Thus 
they  continued  to  strengthen  one  another  in  their  sacred 
ardor  for  holy,  impartial,  social  liberty;  Amongst  Sharp's 
sentiments  on  this  subject,  the  following  particularly  strike 
me. 

"  In  short,  the  doctrine  of  necessity,  may  be  admitted  to 
excuse  some  things  of  an  indifferent  nature,  not  evil  in  them- 
selves, though  prohibited  by  law  ;  but  never  to  justify  ini- 
quity and  oppression,  respect  of  persons,  or  any  thing  that 

*  How  similar  this  to  Britain  and  the  United  States.  Britain  under 
a  King,  has  abolished  Slavery.  The  United  States,  a  republic,  clasps 
it  as  her  dearest  jewel.  The  National  Legislature,  will  not  or  dares  not, 
even  discuss  it — and  the  highest  judicatories  of  the  Churches  deem  them* 
3e]yes  insulted  when  it  is  fairly  offered  to  their  attention, 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  27 

is  *  malum  in  se,  evil  in  its  very  nature.'     Because  the 
first  necessity  in  a  Christian  community  is,  to  do  justice  to 
all  men,  at  all  times — as,  it  is  better  to  endure  all  adversi- 
ties, than  to  assent  to  iniquity. 

"  The  end  or  purpose  of  all  good  government  is  liberty, 
with  protection  from  personal  injuries,  and  the  security  of 
private  property  ;  but  when  a  large  part  of  the  commu- 
nity are  deprived  of  their  liberty  and  protection,  not  for  a 
short  time  only,  but  regularly  and  constantly,  the  end  or 
true  purpose  of  government  is  defeated  and  destroyed. 

"  This  doctrine  is  deeply  impressed  in  the  genius  of  our 
common  law,  which  informs  us,  by  unquestionable  max- 
ims, that  no  man  is  worthy  to  hold  the  reins  of  administra- 
tion who  cannot  maintain  the  national  justice,  the  chief  ob- 
ject of  which  is  certainly,  personal  protection.  '  Cessa 
regnare,si  non  visjudicare,1  Cease  to  reign,  if  you  will  not  do 
justice,  and  the  reason  of  this  is  plain  from  another  maxim, 
'Vita  Reipublicce,  pax — et  animus  libertas — et  corpus,  leges,'' 
peace  is  the  life — and  liberty  the  soul — and  the  laws  the 
body  of  the  commonwealth." 

In  another  place,  Sharp  quotes  the  following  in  corrobo- 
ration of  the  same  views.  "  Humana  natura  in  libertatis 
causa,  favorem  semper  magis  quam  in  aliis  causis  depreca- 
tur  ;'  and  'Anglica  jura,  in  omni  causa-  libertati  dant  favo- 
rem,' human  nature  gives  a  preference  to  the  cause  of  liber- 
ty, above  all  other  causes,  and  'the  laws  of  England  always 
favor  liberty.'    (Fortescue.)" 

He  says,  in  his  manuscripts,  "  I  have  been  told  that  it  is 
the  common  lot  of  the  poor  and  laborious  part  of  mankind, 
to  endure  hardships  and  inconveniences.  That  the  press- 
ing and  forcing  them  into  service,  is  no  injustice  or  ille- 
gality, being  nothing  more  than  a  necessary  contingency 
of  their  low  condition  of  life,  in  which  they  were  bred ; 
and  that  the  cruelty  rather  rests  with  persons,  who  like 
me  take  notice  of  their  grievances,  and  render  them  un- 
happy, by  persuading  them,  that  they  are  so.  All  this  has 
been  urged  to  me,  with  the  most  plausible  sophistry,  and 
important  self-sufficiency,  as  if  the  speaker  supposed  that 
the  mere  sound  of  words,  could  alter  the  nature  of  things  ; 


2S  MEMOIR    OF 

or  as  if,  there  were  no  distinction  between  good  and  evil, 
but  as  the  circumstances  of  persons,  or  occasions,  might 
render  it  expedient  or  necessary  to  practice  the  one  or  the 
other.  Thus  the  tyrant's  plea  of  necessity,  is  made  to 
remove  every  boundary  of  law,  morality  and  common 
right.  But  '  woe  to  them  that  call  evil  good,  and  good 
evil.'  Happy  would  it  be  for  this  nation,  and  for  the  souls 
of  such  as  mislead  it,  if  the  feelings  of  the  seamen  and  other 
laborious  poor,  had  no  other  stimulant  than  the  recital  of 
their  unhappy  case  by  such  poor  advocates  as  I.  Are 
they  not  surely  of  the  same  blood,  and  have  they  not  the 
same  natural  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  to  discern  ?  and 
the  same  sensibility  to  injuries,  as  those  who  cause  their 
sufferings  ? 

"  It  is  to  prevent  and  dissuade  from  acts  of  violence  and 
injustice,  and  surely  not  to  aggravate  the  sense  of  them, 
that  such  circumstances  are  noticed.  Nay,  it  is  charity 
towards  the  oppressors  as  well  as  the  oppressed,  to  endea- 
vor to  convince  the  oppressors  of  their  error — and  how 
can  this  be  done  but  by  exhibiting  the  oppressions.  It  is 
a  crime  to  be  silent  on  such  occasions  ;  for  the  scriptures 
command,  '  open  thy  mouth — judge  righteously  and  plead 
the  cause  of  the  poor  and  needy.'  Prov.  xxxi.  9.  Nay,  it 
is  the  cause  of  God  himself,  who  has  declared,  '  for  the 
oppressor  of  the  poor  reproacheth  his  Maker ;  but  he  that 
honoreth  him,  hath  mercy  on  the  poor.'  "  Prov.  xiv.  31. 

During  all  this  time,  Granville  Sharp  continued  his  cor- 
respondence on  the  subject  of  slavery  and  the  slave  trade. 
He  particularly  urged  the  Bench  of  Bishops,  and  visited 
most  of  them  personally.  A  few  cordially  met  his  views.* 
In  a  letter  to  the  Archbishop  of  York,  he  says  : 

"  The  Methodists  also  are  highly  offended  at  the  scan- 
dalous toleration  of  slavery  in  our  Colonies,  if  I  may  judge 
by  the  sentiments  of  one  of  their  principal  teachers,  Mr. 
Wesley  :  though  indeed  I  have  never  had  any  communi. 
cation  with  that  gentleman,  but  on  this  particular  point. 

*  These  were  particulaly(1779)  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbery.  Bishops 
of  Litchfield,  St.  David's,  St.  Asaph,  London,  Ely,  Bangor,  Oxford  and 
Peterborough. 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  29 

"  One  of  the  leading  people  likewise  among  the  Mora- 
vians, has  written  me  several  very  earnest  letters  upon  the 
subject.  Nay  even  the  church  of  Rome,  has  been  honored 
by  the  endeavors  of  one  of  her  sons,  the  benevolent  and 
indefatigable  Bishop  of  Chiapa,  (Las  Casas)  against  this 
crying  sin."* 

In  1783,  his  attention  was  called  to  the  case  of  the  ship 
Zong  or  Zung. 

This  vessel,  Luke  Collingwood,  master,  sailed  from  St. 
Thomas,  off  the  coast  of  Africa,  for  Jamaica,  with  440 
slaves  and  14  whites  on  board,  Sept.  6th,  1781.  In  No- 
vember, she  made  Jamaica  ;  but  the  master  mistaking  it,  as 
he  said,  for  Hispaniola,  ran  her  to  leeward.  Sickness  and 
mortality  dreadfully  prevailed,  so  that  by  29th  Nov.  60 
slaves  and  7  whites  had  died,  besides  a  great  number  being 
dangerously  ill.  The  master  then  made  a  proposal  to  his 
officers  to  throw  the  sick  slaves  into  the  sea,  because,  said 
he,  if  they  die  on  board,  the  loss  will  fall  upon  the  owners 
of  the  ship — but  if  they  are  thrown  overboard  for  the  pre- 
servation of  the  ship,  the  underwriters  will  have  to  bear 
it ;  besides,  it  will  be  mercy  to  save  them  from  a  lingering 

*  An  absurd  and  cruel  charge,  has  been  widely  spread  against  this 
holy  man,  at  first  on  the  authority  of  the  Spanish  historian,  Herrera,  and 
after  him,  of  Robertson  and  Charlevoix,  &c,  who  copy  from  Her- 
rera that,  led  away  by  his  fond  pity  for  the  perishing  Indians,  he  recom- 
mended the  African  slave  trade  as  a  substitute.  This  calumny  has  been 
triumphantly  refuted  by  the  Abbe  Gregoire,  in  the  4th  Vol.  of  the  Trans- 
actions of  the  Class  of  Moral  and  Political  Sciences  of  the  French  Insti- 
tute.    The  grounds  of  the  refutation  may  be  here  briefly  stated. 

Herrera  wrote  thirty  years  after  the  death  of  Las  Casas  and  displays 
much  enmity  towards  him,  and  he  quotes  no  authority  whatsoever  for  his 
assertions.  Several  writers  were  cotemporary  with  Las  Casas,  some  of 
whom  were  his  enemies  and  endeavored  to  render  him  odious  and  con- 
temptible—but none  of  them  mention  this  charge. 

Sepulveda  was  his  personal  antagonist.  Lopez  de  Gomara,  in  his 
"  General  History  of  the  Indies,"  defames  him  in  other  respects — yet 
neither  mentions  this  accusation.  Remesal,  author  of  the  history  of 
Chiapa  and  Guatimala,  is  silent  respecting  it.  Don  Juan  Lopez  and 
Racine,  both  authors  of  ecclesiastical  histories,  eulogize  him  greatly,  but 
say  nothing  of  it.  His  own  memoirs,  written  by  himself,  deposited  in 
the  libraries  of  Mexico  and  Madrid,  in  several  places  mention  the  African 
slaves,  and  express  the  same  commiseration  for  their  sufferings,  as  so 
remarkably  distinguished  him  to  the  Indians.  See  also  Preface  to 
Clarkson's  Essay  on  the  Slavery  and  Commerce  of  the  human  species. 


30  MEMOIR    OF 

death.     To  this,  James  Kelsal,  the  mate,  at  first  objected. 
But  the  master,  soon  gained  over  the  crew,  and  the  work  of 
death  began. 

One  hundred  and  thirty-two  of  the  slaves  were  brought 
on  deck,  and  the  crew  began  by  turns  to  throw  them  into 
the  sea.  "  A.  'parcel "  of  fifty. four  were  first  drowned. 
The  next  day  "  another  parcel  "  of  forty-two,  were  com- 
mitted to  the  deep  :  and  on  the  third  day,  the  remaining 
thirty-six,  were  brought  up  for  execution  ;  but  offering 
some  resistance,  twenty-six  were  first  put  into  irons,  and  then 
thrown  overboard.  The  remaining  ten,  animated  by  despair, 
sprang  disdainfully  from  the  grasp  of  their  murderers,  and 
buried  themselves  in  the  ocean. 

The  pretense  of  the  master  was,  that  a  scarcity  of  water 
rendered  the  execution  necessary — but  this  was  abundantly 
disproved. 

Nevertheless,  the  verdict  of  the  jury  on  the  first  trial, 
was  in  favor  of  the  master  and  the  owners  !  !  !  and  the 
Solicitor  General,  J.  Lee  !  spurned  the  idea  of  carrying 
the  cause  further.  He  asserted  the  unquestionable  right  of 
the  master  to  do  as  he  had  done.  "  This  is  a  case,"  said 
he,  "  of  goods  and  chattels.  It  is  really  so  :  it  is  a  case  of 
throwing  over  goods ;  for  to  this  purpose  and  the  purpose 
of  insurance,  they  are  goods  and  property — whether  right 
or  wrong,  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  it  "  !  ! 

Mr.  Pigot,  on  the  part  of  the  underwriters,  said,  "  The 
life  of  one  man,  is  like  the  life  of  another  man,  whatever 
the  complexion  is.  Suppose  the  exigency  described  had 
existed — 1  ground  myself  on  the  rights  and  essential  inter- 
ests of  humanity  ;  I  contend,  that  as  long  as  any  water  re- 
mained, these  men  were  as  much  entitled  to  their  share,  as 
the  captain,  or  any  other  man  whatever." 

Lord  Mansfield,  regarding  the  matter  with  a  legal  eye, 
declared,  "  The  matter  left  to  the  jury,  is  '  was  it  from 
necessity  '  "  ? — "  for  they  had  no  doubt  (though  it  shocks  one 
very  much)  that  the  case  of  slaves,  was  the  same  as  i£  horses 
had  been  thrown  overboard  !  !  It  is  a  very  shocking  case." 
He  granted  a  new  trial. 

The  result,  was  a  verdict  in  favor  of  the  underwriters. 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  31 

But  so  thoroughly  corrupt  and  ferocious  in  this  particular, 
was  the  state  of  legality  then  in  England,  that  no  prosecu- 
tion could  be  had  of  the  murderers.  The  pecuniary  claims 
of  the  underwriters  were  vindicated — but  the  blood  of  the 
poor  was  despised.  Its  cry  is  going  to  meet  its  tyrants  and 
their  fellows,  where  persons  are  not  respected  ;  where  He 
presides,  who  has  declared  "  Vengeance  is  mine — I  will 
repay,  saith  the  Lord." 

"  So  far,"  said  J.  Lee,  the  counsel  of  the  owners,  "  so 
far  was  the  transaction  from  any  thing  like  the  guilt  of  a 
murderous  act ;  or  any  shew  or  suggestion  of  cruelty,  or 
even  a  surmise  of  impropriety,  that  to  bring  a  charge  of 
murder  against  the  perpetrators,  would  argue  nothing  less 
than  madness."  Such,  at  times,  is  the  worse  than  lawless- 
ness of  law  !  So  fearfully  true  is  it,  that  "  no  tyranny  is 
more  cruel,  than  that  which  is  exercised  under  the  shadow 
of  law,  and  with  the  pretense  of  justice."  Witness  slavery 
as  it  now  exists  in  the  United  States. 

It  is  most  pleasing  to  contrast,  with  this  utter  abandon- 
ment in  wickedness,  the  following  words  of  Granville 
Sharp,  extracted  from  a  letter  dated  Old  Jewry,  18th  July, 
1783,  addressed  by  him,  to  His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Port- 
land :  "  but  only  wish,  by  the  horrible  example  related  in 
the  enclosed  papers,  (the  case  of  the  Zong)  to  warn  your 
Grace,  that  there  is  an  absolute  necessity  to  abolish  the 
slave  trade  and  West  Indian  slavery  ;  and  that  '  to  be  in 
power,  and  to  neglect,  as  life  (and  I  may  say,  the  tenure  of 
office,)  is  very  uncertain,  even  a  day,  endeavoring  to  put  a 
stop  to  such  monstrous  injustice  and  abandoned  wickedness, 
must  necessarily  endanger  a  man's  eternal  welfare,  be  he 
ever  so  great  in  temporal  dignity  or  office.'  " 

The  extravagance  of  wickedness,  however,  which  thus 
with  brazen  front,  polluting  openly  the  streams  of  law,  not 
only  screened  these  murderers  from  punishment,  but  gave 
them  heart  as  above,  to  scoff  at  the  very  idea  of  justice,  re- 
acted with  powerful  effect,  upon  many  of  the  first  minds  in 
the  nation  ;  and  prepared  the  way  for  that  glorious  and 
wholesome  overthrow  of  despotism,  beneath  the  sacred  and 
advancing  influences  of  which,  the  world  is  reviving.    Such 


32  MEMOIR    OP 

is  now,  the  growing  process  in  the  United  States.     The 
following  note,  exhibits  the  process  then  in  England. 

Dr.   Hinchcliff,  Bishop  of  Peterborough,  to  Granville 
Sharp,  Esq. 

"Peterborough,  31s2  Aug.  1783. 

Dear  Sir — I  return  to  you  the  inclosed  narrative  of  one 
of  the  most  inhuman  barbarities  that  I  ever  read  of.  Were 
religion  and  humanity  attended  to,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  that 
the  horrid  traffic  would  entirely  cease ;  but  they  have  too 
small  a  voice,  to  be  heard  among  the  clamors  of  avarice  and 
ambition.  Your  benevolent  endeavors  to  assist  the  wretched 
Africans,  however  unsuccessful  in  their  favor,  cannot  be  so 
in  your  own.  As  a  friend  to  mankind,  permit  me  to  thank 
you,  &c.  (signed)  J.   Peterborough." 

In  July,  1786,  Sharp's  attention  was  arrested  by  an 
alarming  emergency.  He  was  suddenly  informed  that  a 
negro  named  Harry  Demane,  had  just  been  kidnapped  by 

his  master,  Jeffrey's  Esq.,  and  sent  on  ship-board. 

He  immediately  put  himself  in  action  to  secure  a  rescue  ; 
but  legal  difficulties,  through  the  indisposition  of  the  ma- 
gistrates to  do  their  duty,  &c,  so  perplexed  him,  that  all 
his  knowledge  and  all  his  energy  were  put  into  requisition. 
At  length  the  requisite  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  being  procu- 
red, Savage  and  Green  were  despatched  with  it,  in  pursuit  of 
the  ship  on  Saturday  night,  29th  July.  By  Monday  noon, 
31st,  they  were  back  in  London,  with  the  rescued  slave. 
They  found  the  ship  with  the  anchor  weighing,  the  sails  set  and 
the  captain  at  the  helm.  Henry  Demane  declared  that  he 
had  determined  to  jump  into  the  sea,  as  soon  as  it  was 
dark,  preferring  death  to  slavery.  In  this  deliverance, 
Sharp  adoringly  acknowledged  the  benignant  Providence 
which  thus  cheered  him  in  his  holy  struggle. 

The  following  is  an  extract  of  a  letter,  addressed  to  him 
by  Dr.  Franklin,  dated  Philadelphia,  9th  June,  1787. 

"  From  a   most  grateful  sense  of  the  zeal  and  abilities, 

with  which  you  have  long  and  successfully  defended  the 

oppressed  Africans, the  Society  (The  Pennsylvania  Society 

for  promoting  the  Abolition  of  Slavery,   fyc.)   have  done 

themselves  the  honor  of  enrolling  your  name,  in  the  num. 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  33 

ber  of  corresponding  members,  and  they  earnestly  request 
the  continuance  of  your  labors  in  the  great  object  of  their 
institution  ;  for,  in  this  business,  the  friends  of  humanity  in 
every  country,  are  of  one  nation  and  religion,  &c. 

B.  Franklin." 

The  excellent  John  Jay  wrote  as  follows,  from  New.  York, 
1st  Sept.  1788. 

"  The  society  established  in  this  city  for  promoting  the 
manumission  of  slaves,  &c,  did,  at  their  last  meeting,  admit 
you  an  honorary  member  of  it,  and  1  have  now  the  pleasure 
of  transmitting  to  you,  herewith  enclosed,  a  certified  extract 
from  their  minutes  on  that  subject,  &c. 

John  Jay,  President." 

In  reply  to  Dr.  Franklin,  Leadenhall  Street,  London, 
10th  Jan.  1788,  Sharp  writes  : 

"  I  have  read,  with  very  particular  satisfaction,  their 
excellent  remonstrance  against  slavery,  addressed  to  the 
late  convention.* 

"  When  such  solemn  and  unanswerable  appeals  to  the 
consciences  of  men,  in  behalf  of  humanity  and  common  jus- 
tice, are  disregarded,  the  crimes  of  slave  dealing  and  slave 
holding  become  crying  sins,  which  presumptuously  invite 
the  Divine  retribution.  So  that  it  must  be  highly  danger- 
ous to  the  political  existence  of  any  state,  thus  duly  warned 
against  injustice,  to  afford  the  least  sanction  to  such  enor- 
mities by  their  legislative  authority." 

"  Having  always  been  zealous  for  the  honor  of  free  go- 
vernments,  I  am  the  more  sincerely  grieved,  to  see  the  new 
Federal  Constitution  stained,  by  the  insertion  of  two  most 
exceptionable  clauses  of  the  kind  above  mentioned.  The 
one,  in  direct  opposition  to  a  most  humane  article,  ordained 
by  the  first  American  Congress,  to  be  perpetually  observed ; 
and  the  other,  in  equal  opposition  to  an  express  command 

*  The  convention  here  spoken  of,  is  the  convention  which  adopted  the 
Federal  Constitution  in  1787,  (signed  "Washington.")  The  remon- 
strance mentioned,  is  the  remonstrance  of  "  The  Pennsylvania  Society 
for  promoting  the  Abolition  of  Slavery,"  against  the  security  given  by 
that  Constitution  to  the  African  slave  trade,  by  prohibiting  its  abolition 
prior  to  1808,  or  for  twenty-one  years,  Article  1,  Section  9 ;  and  against 
the  clause  for  restoring  refugee  slaves,  Article  3,  Section  2. 

3* 


34  MEMOIR    OF 

of  the  Almighty,  '  not  to  deliver  up  the  servant  that  has 
escaped  from  his  master,''  &c.  Both  clauses,  however,  the 
9th  Section  of  the  1st  Article,  and  the  latter  part  of  the 
2d  Section  of  the  3d  Article,  are  so  clearly  null  and  void 
by  their  iniquity,  that  it  would  be  even  a  crime  to  regard 
them  as  law." 

In  September,  1786,  the  College  of  Providence,  in  Rhode 
Island,  conveyed  to  him  through  her  President,  the  highest 
honor  which  they  could  bestow,  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Laws  ;  and  the  University  of  Cambridge,  in  Massachusetts, 
and  of  Williamsburgh,  in  Virginia,  soon  afterwards  did  the 
same.  I  have  before  me,  the  affectionate  letter,  dated, 
Feb.  25th,  1791,  addressed  to  Dr.  Willard,  President  of  the 
University  of  Cambridge,  in  which  he  reciprocates  the 
friendship  of  that  institution. 

The  following  letter  gives  a  trait  of  that  more  retired 
beneficence,  of  which  generally,  there  is  no  record  but  with 
God. 

«  Philadelphia,  25th  Nov.  1793. 

Worthy  and  respected  sir — We  want  words  to  ex- 
press our  gratitude  to  you,  for  all  your  labors  of  love  to 
our  afflicted  nation.  You  were  our  advocate  when  we  had 
but  few  friends  on  the  other  side  of  the  water.  We  request 
you  to  accept  of  our  thanks,  for  all  your  kind  and  benevolent 
exertions  in  behalf  of  the  people  of  our  color,  and  particu- 
larly for  your  late  humane  donation  to  our  church. 

"  Our  prayers  shall  not  cease  to  ascend  to  the  Father  of 
Mercies,  and  God  of  all  grace  for  your  health  and  happiness 
in  this  world,  and  your  eternal  happiness  in  the  world  to 
come — we  are,  &c.  Absalom  Jones, 

William  Grey, 
William  Gardner, 

Acting  Officers  of  the  African  Church  of  Philadelphia." 

Before  we  conclude  this  section,  we  may  notice,  that 
upon  the  dissension  of  the  Continental  Colonies  with  Great 
Britain,  and  their  subsequent  separation,  much  difficulty 
arose  in  the  Canonical  ordination  of  the  Episcopalian 
Bishops,  in  the  United  States  ;  and  that  Granville  Sharp,  a 
consciencious  Episcopalian,  was  mainly  instrumental  in  ob- 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  35 

viating  the  objections  which  the  dignitaries  of  the  English 
Church,  made  to  the  requisite  consecrations.  His  attention 
appears  to  have  been  first  directed  to  this  subject  in  1777, 
and  he  pursued  it  until  early  in  1787,  when  Doctors  White 
and  Prevost,  and  in  September,  1790,  Dr.  Madison,  were 
consecrated  in  due  order,  by  the  Archbishop  of 'Canter- 
bury. 

In  consequence  of  the  victory  in  1772,  gained  by  Jaw 
and  justice  over  opinion  and  precedent,  the  slaves  who  had 
been  brought  from  the  west,  together  with  others  variously 
trapanned,  became  free.  But  they  found  themselves  in  a 
foreign  land,  with  an  uncongenial  climate  and  amidst  a 
crowded  population,  where  their  services  were  little  want- 
ed ;  and  we  cannot  be  surprised  that  their  former  superiors, 
who  had  oppressed  or  plundered,  should  now  abandon  them. 
The  tiger  from  whose  jaws  the  lamb  has  been  rescued, 
thinks  more  of  the  disappointment  of  his  own  appetite  than 
of  the  sufferings  of  the  lamb.  So,  the  impenitent  tyrant, 
who  is  deprived  of  his  horrible  power,  rages  at  the  whole- 
some curb,  rather  than  thinks  of  the  amends  which  he  owes 
to  his  plundered  and  outraged  fellow-men. 

About  four  hundred  rescued  slaves,  most  of  them  Afri- 
cans, remained  in  London.  Far  away  from  their  friends 
and  relations,  without  employment  and  without  legal  claim 
for  support,  most  of  them  suffered  and  some  of  them 
severely.  To  Granville  Sharp,  they  naturally  turned  their 
eyes,  and  his  great  heart  opened  spontaneously  to  their 
wants  ;  but  his  means  were  inadequate  to  the  demand,  and 
their  provisioning  became  to  him  a  subject  of  tender  care — 
he  called  them  his  "  orphans"  and  showed  all  a  father's 
spirit  towards  them.  How  loathsome  was  the  system  of 
legalized  felony  still  continued  in  the  west,  Which  thus 
made  and  kept  them  exiles  and  orphans  ! 

There  was  at  this  time  (1786)  in  England  a  benevolent 
and  talented  man  named  Smeatham,  who  had  resided  for 


Note. — Morgan  Godwyn,  a  British  clergyman;  John  Woolman,  an 
American  Friend ;  and  Rev.  James  Ramsay,  should  be  added  to  the 
names  elsewhere  contained  in  this  memoir,  as  most  nobly  instrumental  in 
the  holy  cause  of  liberty  and  love. 


36  MEMOIR    OF 

some  time  in  Africa,  at  the  foot  of  the  Sierra  Leone  moun- 
tains. He  had  been  delighted  with  the  place,  and  to  him 
seems  first  to  have  occurred,  in  conversing  with  many  of 
the  rescued  slaves  of  African  blood,  the  idea  of  obtaining 
a  settlement  for  them  at  Sierra  Leone.  This  was  com- 
municated by  several  of  his  poor  "  orphan  exiles"  to  Gran- 
ville Sharp  ;  and  Sharp  seems  to  have  revolved  it  much 
in  his  mind,  and  to  have  been  carefully  engaged  in  matu- 
ring the  requisite  measure,  from  1783  to  1787.  Mr.  Smeat- 
ham  was  to  have  conducted  the  infant  establishment.  Gov- 
ernment had  engaged  to  allow  him  £12  for  each  person, 
whatever  the  number,  that  might  accompany  him.  Navy 
transports  were  to  be  provided  for  the  service,  and  all  the 
necessary  arrangements  were  on  the  point  of  completion, 
when  Mr.  Smeatham,  probably  from  over  exertion,  was 
seized  with  a  sudden  fever,  and  in  three  days  was  no 
more. 

Sharp  in  a  letter  to  his  brother  in  January,  1788,  thus 
speaks  of  the  establishment :  "  The  settlers  consisted  chiefly 
of  blacks  and  of  people  of  color,  who  had  served  in  the 
army  and  navy,*  during  the  late  war,  and  having  impru- 
dently spent  all  their  earnings,  they  fell  into  extreme  pov- 
erty and  were  starving  about  the  streets,  till  they  were 
relieved,  for  some  time,  by  a  voluntary  subscription  of 
charitable  people. 

"  In  the  mean  time,  a  proposal  was  made  to  them  by  the 
late  Mr.  Smeatham,  to  form  a  free  settlement  at  Sierra 
Leone.  Many  of  them  came  to  consult  me  about  the  pro- 
posal. Sometimes  they  came  in  large  bodies  together. 
Upon  inquiring  among  themselves,  I  found  that  several  of 
them  had  been  on  the  spot ;  and  they  assured  me,  that  there 
was  much  fine  wood  land  unoccupied  on  that  part  of  the 
coast.  This  account  was  confirmed  to  me  by  several  other 
channels,  and  more  particularly  by  a  young  negro  man,  a 
native  of  Sierra  Leone,  whom  I  happily  saved,  just  at  that 
time  from  slavery." 

In  another  place,  in  a  letter  to  the  Archbishop  of  Can- 

*  Most  of  these  were  refugee  slaves  from  the  United  States, 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  37 

terbury,  dated  1st  August,  1786,  he  thus  describes  the 
settlers  :  "  The  present  set  of  unfortunate  negroes  that  are 
starving  in  our  streets  were  brought  here  on  very  different 
occasions.  Some  indeed  have  been  brought  as  servants, 
but  chiefly  by  officers — others  were  royalists  from  Ame- 
rica— but  more  are  seamen,  who  have  navigated  the  King's 
ships  from  the  East  and  West  Indies,  or  have  served  in 
the  war." 

In  this  letter  to  the  Archbishop,  Sharp  earnestly  recom- 
mends a  Mr.  Fraser,  as  missionary  minister  to  accompany 
the  expedition. 

In  his  memoranda,  dated  1st  August,  1783,  he  says,  "  as 
the  majority  of  the  settlers  will  probably  be  Africans  re- 
turned from  slavery  to  their  own  soil"  &c. 

The  plan  of  government  which  he  laid  down,  endeavored 
to  combine  the  greatest  freedom,  with  the  greatest  equity, 
and  the  highest  security.  The  community  was  to  be 
divided  into  tens,  fifties,  hundreds,  thousands,  &c,  each 
with  a  head  elected  by  themselves,  and  all  bound  together, 
by  the  reciprocal  ties  of 'frank  pledge.  The  elections  were 
to  be  annual.  Each  individual  to  be  answerable  with  his 
person  and  property,  to  the  tithing  of  which  he  was  a  mem- 
ber, for  all  damages  which  he  occasioned  or  which  he  did 
not  do  his  best  to  prevent,  the  tithing  to  the  hundred  and 
so  on  :  for  according  to  frank  pledge,  no  man  is  entitled  to 
liberty,  who  is  not  duly  pledged  by  his  nearest  neighbor, 
for  the  mutual  preservation  of  peace  and  right.  All  crimes, 
except  murder,  rape  and  unnatural  crimes,  were  to  be 
punished  proportionally  by  fine  and  imprisonment. 

Thus  devised,  of  these  materials  and  upon  these  princi- 
ples, the  expedition,  after  some  months  delay  caused  by  Mr. 
Smeatham's  sudden  death,  sailed  on  8th  April,  1787,  under 
the  convoy  of  the  Nautilus,  sloop  of  war,  Capt.  Thompson. 
The  number  of  rescued  slaves  was  upwards  of  four  hun- 
dred, and  besides  these,  were  about  sixty  Europeans. 

The  place  appropriated  for  their  use  was  purchased  from 
King  Tom,  a  neighboring  chief,  and  is  thus  described  in 
the  first  annual  report,  1791  : 

"  The  district  purchased  for  the  settlement  at  Sierra 
Leone,  is  nearly  twice  as  large  as  the  island  of  Barbadoes, 


38  MEMOIR    OF 

being  20  miles  square,  containing  256,000  acres  of  land, 
well  watered  with  salubrious  springs,  and  situated  on  a 
fruitful  peninsula,  between  two  noble  navigable  rivers  ;  the 
great  river  of  Sierra  Leone  and  the  Sherbro',  which  receives 
the  waters  of  many  others.  The  peninsula  rises  into  hills, 
forming  upon  one  another  into  lofty  mountains,  the  sides 
and  summits  of  which  are  covered  with  timber. 

"  The  extraordinary  temper  and  salubrity  of  the  air  for 
European  constitutions  in  this  peculiar  spot  of  the  torrid 
zone,  has  been  remarked  by  ancient  writers  and  by  modern 
travelers  of  respectability.  The  river  has  a  safe  channel 
for  ships  of  any  burthen  ;  and  St.  George's  bay,  the  first 
approach  to  the  new  settlement,  is  perhaps  the  finest  harbor 
in  the  world. 

"  Sierra  Leone  is  about  8°  12'  N.  latitude  and  12°  W.  L. 
It  is  generally  about  a  month's  sail  from  England  ;  but 
more  in  returning,  on  account  of  the  interruption  of  the 
trade  winds." 

In  another  part  of  this  report  we  read  : 

"  Mr.  Falconbridge  has  collected  several  specimens  of 
native  produce,  particularly  of  woods,  iron  ore,  gum  copal, 
pepper,  rice,  cotton  and  sugar  cane,  which  afford  the  most 
favorable  hopes. 

"  All  the  most  valuable  productions  of  the  tropical  cli- 
mates, seem  to  grow  spontaneously  at  Sierra  Leone ;  and 
nothing  but  attention  and  cultivation  appear  wanting,  in 
order  to  produce  them  of  every  kind,  and  in  sufficient 
quantities  to  become  articles  of  trade,  and  even  of  great 
national  concern." 

Granville  Sharp  says  in  a  letter  dated  31st  October, 
1787  :  "  They  have  purchased  twenty  miles  square  of  the 
finest  and  most  beautiful  country  (they  all  allow)  that  was 
ever  seen.  The  hills  are  not  steeper  than  Shooter's  hill ; 
and  fine  streams  of  fresh  waters,  run  down  the  hill,  on  each 
side  of  the  new  township  ;  and  in  the  front  is  a  noble  bay, 
where  the  river  is  about  three  leagues  wide.  The  woods 
and  groves  are  beautiful  beyond  description,  and  the  soil 
very  fine."  Sir  George  Young,  of  the  navy,  assured  him 
that  this  view  of  the  place  was  correct. 

But  in  these  pictures,  there  is  a  deception.    As  it  imposed 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  39 

upon  that  day,  in  relation  to  Sierra  Leone,  so  has  it  imposed 
upon  ours,  in  relation  to  Cape  Mesurado,  and  still  more  re- 
cently,  to  Cape  Palmas.  The  deception  is  natural,  though 
big  with  death.  Enterprise  and  hope  are  elate  in  the  hu- 
man mind  :  the  heart  in  such  a  frame  is  prepared  for  dreams 
of  Eden.  The  beauty  of  the  scenery  ;  the  richness  and 
constant  verdure  of  the  trees ;  the  deliciousness  of  the 
fruits  ;  the  coolness  of  the  morning  ;  the  soul  reviving  fresh- 
ness of  the  sea  breeze  ;  the  almost  unearthly  sweetness  of 
evening  as  it  comes  down,  solemn,  temperate,  peaceful,  a 
paradise  refuge  from  the  burning  day  ;  excite  even  in  ordi- 
nary minds,  almost  the  poet's  rapture  ;  and  Sierra  Leone, 
Cape  Mesurado,  Cape  Palmas,  are  painted  under  the  ex- 
tasy.  The  mountains  too,  the  glorious  mountains !  tall, 
clad  with  undying  green  ;  murmuring  with  streams  ;  vary- 
ing into  ten  thousand  forms,  as  the  shadows  of  the  gorgeous 
clouds  rest  on  them  or  pass  away  :  yes,  the  mountains, 
the  brothers  of  the  thunder,  the  cradle  of  the  winds  ;  the 
clifted,  valleyed,  verdant,  placid,  fountained  mountains,  with 
an  atmosphere  of  double  death,  are  dreamt  into  salubrity, 
and  the  elated  imagination  feasts  on  the  idea  of  the  health 
which  must  be  found  amidst  their  shades. 

The  traversers  of  the  Ghauts  know  other  things  of  these 
glorious  mountains — and  yet  with  the  impression  deep  in 
my  memory  of  the  wail  of  anguish  and  of  death  from  my 
perishing  companions,  and  of  the  fever  that  came  upon  my- 
self like  a  whirlwind  and  all  but  thrust  me  into  an  early 
eternity,  my  heart  can  scarcely  break  through  the  delu- 
sion of  their  glorious  beauty,  and  often  pants  in  its  dream- 
ings,  again  to  wander  as  I  have  done  amidst  their  cliffs  and 
their  glens  while  the  thunders  bounded  from  rock  to  rock, 
and  the  lightnings  spread  around  me  a  blazing  sea,  and  the 
large,  quick  tears  of  heaven  fell  gushing  over  a  guilty 
world. 

The  simple  facts  of  this  matter  are  as  follows.  Decay- 
ing vegetation  and  all  stagnant  moisture,  under  a  certain 
temperature,  with  confined  circulation,  (say  from  70°  up- 
wards) generate,  wherever  they  are  found  together,  an  at- 
mosphere of  death  :  and  the  intensity  of  this  malaria,  is  in 


40  MEMOIR    OF 

proportion  to  the  excess  of  the  ingredients  which  produce 
it,  viz.  decaying  vegetation,  stagnant  moisture,  a  high  tem- 
perature, and  a  confined  circulation.  The  mountains  in 
warm  climates  are  most  destructive,  because  they  have  the 
largest  proportion  of  these  united  ingredients,  always  ex- 
cepting, where  they  rise  to  the  temperate  region,  that  is 
five  or  six  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

It  is  this  fact,  which  causes  such  mournful  waste  of  life 
in  the  new  settlements  in  the  United  States  and  in  south 
western  Canada,  and  the  settlers  therefore  cannot  be  too 
diligent,  in  removing  all  decaying  vegetation,  and  all  stag, 
nant  moisture  as  far  as  possible  from  their  vicinities,  before 
the  heats  of  autumn. 

But  Sierra  Leone  is  in  fact  a  glorious  spot — glorious  in 
beauty,  moderately  fertile — with  one  of  the  finest  harbors 
in  the  world  ;  replete  with  the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  the 
tropics ;  and  ready  to  become  salubrious,  as  soon  as  the 
causes  of  death  can  be  removed.  The  labors  and  suffer- 
ings of  a  few  more  generations  will  probably  effect  this. 

The  long  detention  in  the  channel,  to  which  the  settlers 
were  exposed,  induced  great  sickness  amongst  them,  and 
threw  their  landing  at  Sierra  Leone  into  the  rainy  or  sickly 
season.  Intemperance  amongst  themselves,  vastly  aggra- 
vated the  evil ;  and  their  numbers  were  reduced  in  conse- 
quence by  death  almost  one  half,  in  the  course  of  the  first 
year.     A  few  deserted. 

The  remnant  built  a  small  town,  and  after  the  period 
above  mentioned  suffered  no  extraordinary  mortality.  They 
gradually  improved  in  their  circumstances,  "  and  though  far 
from  being  regularly  industrious,  were  able  to  supply  them- 
selves with  a  sufficiency  of  food,  and  to  secure  a  small,  but 
constantly  increasing  property."  Many,  however,  continu- 
ed to  migrate,  and  at  one  time,  the  community  was  in 
danger  of  extinction. 

During  this  period,  Granville  Sharp,  watchful  over  his 
orphan  settlement  with  a  father's  care,  had  despatched  on 
7th  May,  1798,  a  small  vessel  called  the  Myro,  with  some 
additional  settlers  and  she  arrived  most  opportunely  to 
prevent  utter  despair  and  dispersion.     On  this  occasion, 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  41 

the  original  purchase,  was  confirmed  by  Naimbana,  a  su- 
perior native  chieftain,  who  resided  between  the  English 
slave  factory  at  Bunce  Island  and  the  French  one  at  Gam- 
bia, upon  the  small  island  of  Rohanna. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  next  year  (1789)  a  new  disaster 
overwhelmed  the  establishment.  The  brief  history  of  this 
is  so  characteristic  of  the  mode  which  governments  take  to 
repair  injuries ;  and  of  the  fact  so  disgraceful  to  civilized 
people,  that  they  are  generally  the  first  aggressors,  that  it 
deserves  a  detail. 

An  American  slave  captain  had  carried  off  two  subjects 
of  King  Tom,  the  native  chief  residing  within  half  a  mile 
of  the  English  settlement.  Tom  watched  for  retaliation. 
An  American  boat  from  another  ship  passing  up  the  river 
gave  him  the  opportunity — he  attacked  and  plundered  it ; 
putting  the  crew  of  three  or  four  men  to  death,  excepting 
one  who  made  his  escape  to  the  slave  factory,  to  which  the 
boat  was  going.  At  this  time,  a  British  ship  of  war  was 
lying  in  the  river,  and  the  agent  of  the  factory  consulting 
with  the  officers,  determined  upon  revenge.  They  first 
endeavored  to  decoy  Tom  on  board  ;  but  he  knew  them 
too  well.  They  then  with  a  force  of  sailors  and  marines, 
attacked  his  town,  plundered  and  burnt  it.  The  slave  factor 
soon  after  left  the  coast,  and  the  neighboring  chieis  holding 
a  council,  and  finding  that  two  of  the  settlers  of  Sierra 
Leone  had  aided  their  enemies,  determined  upon  destroying 
the  settlement.  They  proceeded  legally  and  deliberately, 
just  as  more  enlightened  people  do.  A  formal  notice  was 
solemnly  sent  of  their  dreadful  purpose  to  Sierra  Leone, 
and  three  days  were  allowed  the  inhabitants  for  removal. 
The  settlers  had  no  alternative.  They  fled  ;  and  the  ju- 
dicial sentence  was  carried  into  execution  at  the  appointed 
time. 

Meanwhile  Sharp  finding  the  inadequacy  of  his  own  re- 
sources, had  been  endeavoring  to  form  an  incorporated 
company,  and  to  secure  the  aid  of  Government  in  conduct- 
ing the  enterprise.  And  the  company,  united  and  animated 
by  his  influence,  was  induced  by  the  emergency  just  men- 
tioned, to  expedite  their  measures,  even  before  they  had 

4 


42  MEMOIR    OF 

received  the  charter,  which  they  were  given  to  expect. 
Mr.  Falconbridge  was  sent  out  with  the  requisite  powers 
and  supplies,  in  September,  1790.  Immediately  after  his 
arrival,  he  collected  as  many  as  he  could  of  the  dispersed 
people,  and  settled  them  about  two  miles  further  than  be- 
fore from  King  Tom,  where  they  found  some  deserted  huts, 
and  where  they  immediately  began  to  clear  and  plant  land. 
The  new  settlement  was  called  Granvilletown,  and  the 
number  of  people  gathered  together  in  it  were  altogether 
sixty-four. 

Soon  after  this,  the  Charter  of  Incorporation  was  obtain- 
ed, and  a  considerable  capital  raised  for  carrying  on  the 
commerce  of  the  settlement.  The  utmost  watchfulness 
continued  to  be  exhibited  by  all  the  authorities  against  the 
slave  trade.     The  face  of  things  became  cheerful. 

An  opportunity  about  this  time  occurred  of  greatly  in- 
creasing the  settlement. 

During  the  American  revolutionary  war,  a  considerable 
number  of  refugee  slaves,  had  found  their  way  to  the  British 
camps  and  vessels,  and  had  been  enlisted  into  the  King's 
service.  At  the  end  of  the  war  they  were  carried  to  Nova 
Scotia  and  promised  land — but  this  promise  was  not  faith- 
fully kept,  and  the  bleak  climate  disagreed  with  them. 
They  were  now  willing  to  remove  to  Sierra  Leone,  and  the 
requisite  measures  were  promptly  taken. 

But  preparations  from  England  were  necessary  for  their 
accomodation,  and  three  vessels  were  accordingly  expedi- 
ted early  in  1792,  with  upwards  of  one  hundred  Europeans. 
Soon  after  these  reached  Sierra  Leone,  the  Nova  Scotian 
fleet  arrived,  consisting  of  sixteen  vessels,  with  eleven  hun- 
dred and  thirty-one  settlers,  after  having  lost  sixty-five  on 
the  passage. 

The  original  site  of  the  town  was  now  resumed.  The 
former  purchase  was  now  secured  by  a  new  Palaver,  and 
by  new  presents,  and  the  appropriate  name  of  Freetown, 
which  it  still  retains,  was  given  it. 

Another  ship  meanwhile,  of  great  burthen,  (850  tons) 
was  chartered,  for  the  purpose  of  hastening  to  the  settlers 
every   accommodation  which  could   be  secured  to  them, 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  43 

before  the  sickly  season — but  she  was  driven  back  by  a 
storm,  and  did  not  reach  them  till  after  great  delays.  The 
Nova  Scotians  also,  refugees  from  slavery  ;  exiles  from 
Iwme  ;  late  tenants  of  the  camp  and  the  navy  ;  deceived  in 
the  promises  formerly  made  them,  and  disheartened  by 
change  and  uncertainty,  did  not  exert  themselves  as  they 
might  have  done,  and  the  sickly  season  came  upon  them 
unprepared.  The  rains  began  about  the  third  week  in 
May.  A  high  degree  of  health  had  previously  inspired  a 
rash  and  ignorant  confidence.  The  sickness  which  ensued 
was  most  severe.  All  the  medical  persons  except  one, 
were  laid  up.  The  storekeepers  were  amongst  the  first 
victims.  Disorder  arose  in  every  department,  and  despon- 
dency almost  universally  prevailed.  Nearly  one  half  of 
the  Europeans  residing  on  shore,  were  carried  off,  and 
about  one-tenth  of  the  Nova  Scotians. 

About  the  9th  October,  the  rains  had  ceased,  and  by  the 
end  of  that  month,  two  meeting  houses  and  a  school  house, 
were  completed.  The  frames  for  these,  were  sent  from 
England.  The  government,  before  this,  had  been  modi, 
fied  to  suit  the  new  authorities  placed  over  them,  Granville 
Sharp  being  one  of  the  new  Directors.  A  garden  of  ex- 
periment was  established,  under  Dr.  Afzelius,  an  eminent 
botanist,  and  two  plantations  were  begun  by  the  company, 
as  an  example  to  others  ;  both  worked  by  free  laborers — 
one  of  these  was  soon  relinquished.  The  settlement  con- 
tinued generally  to  flourish,  until  towards  the  close  of  1794, 
when  it  was  almost  entirely  destroyed  by  a  predatory  French 
squadron,  piloted  by  an  American  slave  captain.  The 
French  landed  on  28th  Sept.,  and  kept  possession  until  13th 
Oct.,  plundering  and  destroying  without  pity. 

Several  years  before  this,  a  Danish  slayer  having  an- 
chored in  the  bay,  the  slaves  rose,  mastered  the  crew, 
landed  and  resorting  to  the  neighboring  mountains,  built  a 
village,  which  was  called  "Deserter's  Town."  In  this 
they  dwelt  in  peace,  but  exercising  the  utmost  vigilance  to 
avoid  all  intercourse  with  strangers.  During  the  distress 
above  mentioned,  they  cast  off,  however,  their  caution,  and 
most  affectionately  received  and  entertained  several  of  the 


44 


MEMOIR    OF 


English  settlers,  who  fled  to  them  for  safety — and  yet,  white 
men,  and  free  men,  and  christians,  must  keep  such  people 
slaves  !  ! !  !  The  black  chief  of  a  neighboring  town,  shel- 
tered and  protected  the  mistress  with  the  children  of  the 
public  school,  from  the  white  French  !  The  loss  of  proper- 
ty was  estimated  at  about  $250,000.  Sickness,  from  expo- 
sure, fatigue,  want  of  shelter,  accommodation,  medicine,  &c, 
followed  and  carried  off,  many  of  the  poorer  Europeans. 
But  the  extremity  of  the  affliction,  was  blessed  to  the  awa- 
kening among  the  settlers,  of  an  humbler  mind,  and  for 
some  time,  they  evinced  a  greater  extent  of  docility,  indus- 
try and  enterprise,  than  they  had  previously  exhibited. 
The  next  four  years,  were  years  of  prosperity. 

The  village  of  the  generous  refugees  above  mentioned, 
was  called  as  I  have  stated,  "  Deserter's  Town.'"  Thus 
do  civilized  people,  often  the  most  barbarian  of  all,  apply 
their  own  terms  of  reproach,  to  people  less  barbarous  than 
they.  Who  were  the  barbarians  in  the  case  above  ?  The 
Danes  or  the  Africans  ?  Yet  the  Danes,  and  the  English, 
and  the  Americans,  were  honorable  merchants!  engaged  in 
a  lucrative  trade,  sanctioned  by  enlightened  governments  ! 
But  when  a  few  of  their  victims,  escaped  providentially  from 
their  floating  vehicles  of  despotism  and  of  death,  fly  to  unap- 
propriated mountains  and  apply  themselves  peaceably  to 
their  own  support,  they  are  called  "  deserters."  How 
honorable,  indeed,  the  title,  in  such  a  connection  !  !  and  how 
ought  our  souls  to  bless  the  Lord,  that  they  were  not  in 
the  West  Indies  or  the  United  States,  since  there,  they 
would  have  been  called  "  runaways,"  and  all  the  tiger  in 
the  heart  of  the  white  man,  would  have  been  called  into 
action  to  pursue  them  to  bondage  or  to  death.*  Alas!  if 
color  could  disgrace  a  people,  how  deep  in  the  nethermost 
regions  of  shame,  would  that  color  be,  which  is  called  white 
in  the  United  States  ;  frequently  with  such  utter  reckless- 
ness of  truth.  White  !  Why,  it  is  brown,  sallow  and 
yellow,  as  well  as  pale  and  ruddy  ;  and  frequently  will  you 
bear  a  man,  decidedly  the  darkest  and  the  least  manly  of 


*Trelawney  hunt,  in  the  Appendix,  No.  II, 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  45 

the  two,  turn  up  his  colored  nose  at  the  other,  because  he 
is  colored  too  :  or  if,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  the  nose  of 
scorn  alone  is  colored,  and  the  sufferer  is  evidently  white, 
then,  the  conviction  of  one  drop  of  African  blood  mingling 
with  the  European  streams  in  his  veins,  or  the  fearful  fact, 
that  the  mother  to  whom  God  gave  him,  ivas  a  slave  !  !  sanc- 
tions his  degradation,  and  the  colored  nose  curls  higher  still, 
distended  with  magnanimous  superiority  !  So,  worse  than 
barbarian,  can  civilization  be  !  So,  deeper  in  the  guilt  of 
caste,  can  men  called  christians,  plunge  themselves,  than 
even  the  Hindoos  do  !  How  glorious  is  the  fact,  that  we 
have  another  standard.  "  Bless  the  Lord,  oh  my  soul,  and 
all  that  is  within  me,  bless  his  holy  name,"  that  His  word 
stands  sure  forever  ;  that  we  read  in  a  record  against  which 
earth  and  hell  united,  cannot  prevail,  "that,  he  who  loveth 
God,  should  love  his  brother  also ;"  1  John  iv.  21 ;  and  again, 
"  he  that  lovetjj  not  his  brother  abideth  in  death  ;"  1  John, 
in.  14.  What !  a  christian,  and  a  despiser  of  his  brother, 
because  he  does  not  come  up  to  the  petty  standard  of  na- 
tional prejudice  and  pride.  What — a  christian,  and  a 
keeper  back,  by  force  or  fraud,  of  the  laborers  wages !  ! 
A  christian,  and  an  oppressor.  A  christian,  and  exercising 
oppression !  !  A  christian,  and  yet  robbing  the  poor,  be- 
cause he  is  poor  ;  robbing  him  of  his  liberty,  his  time,  his 
labor,  his  safety,  his  right  to  the  Bible  and  to  die  unfettered 
preaching  of  the  cross  of  Christ !  !  to  the  cultivation  of  his 
own  mind,  and  the  freedom  of  his  own  choice  !  ! 

Must  not  such  Christianity  be,  indeed,  the  "  loudest  laugh 
of  hell."  What  can  strengthen  infidelity  so  much,  as  call- 
ing such  a  thing,  Christianity !  What  upright  mind  could 
exist,  which  would  not  forever  prefer  infidelity  to  suck 
Christianity  !  What  could  satan  desire  more,  for  the  per- 
dition of  this  world,  than  that  the  world  should  be  filled 
with  such  christians.  Men  to  men,  lt  as  wolves,  for  ra- 
pine— as  the  fox,  for  wiles — pursuing  and  pursued,  each 
others  prey,"  each  seeking  every  opportunity,  and  grasp- 
ing every  excuse  to  lord  it  over  his  brother.  Oh,  how  dif- 
ferent was  the  life  of  Him,  who  went  about  doing  good — 
"  who  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister  "—» 

4* 


46  MEMOIR    OF 

and  who  has  left  us  an  example,  that  we  should  "  follow 
his  steps."  How  different — blessed  be  the  Lord  forever  ! 
are  the  more  than  seven  thousand  men,  who  have  not 
bowed  the  knee  to  Baal,  the  christians,  indeed  •  the  phi- 
lanthropists, not  the  white  color  idolaters  of  the  United 
States.  Not  the  amalgamators,  who  by  cherishing  or  ex- 
ercising slavery,  are  supporting  in  the  slave  states,  almost 
universal  amalgamation,  by  incest,  adultery  and  fornication  ; 
but  the  friends  of  rightful  liberty,  who  would  have  the 
whole  land,  without  respect  of  persons,  immediately  and 
thoroughly  delivered  (through  the  slave-masters,  them- 
selves, then  no  longer  slave-masters,  enacting  just  and  be- 
nignant laws)  from  the  atrocious  system  of  forced  servitude, 
which,  leaving  the  wretched  female  slave,  no  choice  or 
refuge,  is  filling  the  land  with  all  these  abominations. 

Between  1798  and  1800,  much  and  dangerous  discontent 
was  increasingly  fomented  amongst  the  Nova  Scotian  set- 
tlers, by  a  few  evil  minds,  and  in  the  latter  end  of  Septem- 
ber, 1800,  it  had  reached  a  portentous  height,  when  it  was 
suddenly  arrested  by  one  of  those  gracious  providences  of 
God,  which  strike  with  gratitude,  even  man's  dull  heart. 

A  large  ship  suddenly  appeared  in  the  bay — on  board  of 
her,  were  550  Maroons,  exiled  from  Jamaica,  together  with 
45  soldiers  under  two  officers.  These,  at  once,  took  the 
side  of  the  government,  and  the  malcontents,  after  a  shew  of 
resistance,  and  after  having  two  men  killed,  submitted. 
The  Maroons  were  settled  in  Granvilletown,  in  November, 
1800.  They  built  it  up  with  neatness,  and  began  to  culti- 
vate their  land  with  spirit.  Native  free  laborers  worked 
for  hire  amongst  them  with  alacrity. 

The  government  and  protection  of  the  settlement,  was 
assumed  on  1st  Jan.,  1808,  by  the  King,  with  parliamentary 
sanction,  in  consequence  of  a  petition  to  that  purpose  from 
the  Company ;  and  the  Directors  retired  from  power,  re- 
joicing in  the  extent  to  which  they  had  vindicated  the  African 
character,  from  the  slander  of  its  oppressors,  and  the  Eu- 
ropean character  from  the  stain  of  its  crimes.  They  ex- 
ulted also,  in  the  hope,  that  they  had  contributed  materially 
to  sweep  the  slave  trade  from  the  African  coast.     But  in 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  47 

this,  they  overlooked  the  fact,  as  so  many  less  excusably  still 
do,  that  the  extinction  of  the  demand  for  any  commodity  alone 
can  put  an  end  to  its  supply  ;  that  slavery  must  cease,  before 
the  slave  trade  can  be  abolished.  Witness  the  United 
States,  and  "  par  eminence,"   the  District  of  Columbia.* 

At  this  period,  1807 — 8,  the  settlement  was  flourishing 
in  agriculture,  commerce,  education  and  health.  The 
population  amounted  to  1871.  Here  the  history  of  Gran- 
ville Sharp,  becomes  disconnected  with  its  subsequent  pro- 
gress, and  we  therefore  take  leave  of  it  with  the  following 
anecdote. 

In  1791,  King  Naimbana,  filled  with  admiration  for 
Sharp's  character,  sent  his  eldest  son  to  England  for  edu- 
cation, committing  him  to  Sharp's  care  ;  and  the  young 
chief  was  soon  settled  about  forty  miles  from  London,  in 
the  family  of  Rev.  Mr.  Gambler.  Sharp,  though  thus  at  a 
distance,  watched  over  him  like  a  father  ;  and  young  Na- 
imbana (then  twenty^nine  years  of  age,)  exhibited  a  dispo- 

*  It  is  well  ascertained  (though  not  legally  established)  that  3,000  new 
Africans  or  upwards,  are  imported  annually  through  Texas,  (across  the 
Sabine)  into  Louisiana,  &c,  feloniously \  according  to  the  United  States 
law — and  it  is  believed,  on  grounds  apparently  valid,  that  50,000  native 
American  citizens,  some  of  them  whiter  than  their  masters,  (and  this 
class  of  orthodox  color  is  continually  increasing,)  are  annually  bought 
and  sold  like  beasts,  in  the  states  south  of  Pennsylvania,  feloniously  ac- 
cording to  God's  law.  Let  every  man  judge  which  is  the  greatest  felo- 
ny !  Of  this  internal  slave  trade,  the  city  of  Washington  is  the  metrop- 
olis! 

Should  any  one  here  observe,  that  Sierra  Leone  became  eventually  a 
warrior  colony,  with  its  forts  and  its  guns — and  that  it  put  on  this  char- 
acter, even  before  its  connexion  with  Granville  Sharp  was  dissolved,  I 
admit  and  deplore  the  fact.  The  change  was  unworthy  of  the  glorious 
foundation  on  which  it  rose.  Such  was  also  the  eventual  result  in  Penn- 
sylvania, that  brother  settlement !  But  the  change  did  not  take  place  in 
Sierra  Leone,  till  Granville  Sharp  ceased  to  preside  over  it ;  and  he  seems 
to  have  remained  connected  with  it,  not  as  approving  of  the  change,  but 
merely  as  he  remained  chairman  of  the  Society  for  the  Abolition  of  the 
African  slave  trade,  although  he  abhorred  the  principle  which  induced 
them  to  confine  their  efforts  to  the  branch,  instead  of  striking,  at  once,  at 
the  root.  He  did  not  feel  himself  at  liberty  to  depart  from  an  object  no- 
ble in  itself  because  abuses  crept  into  it ;  and  this  must  be  the  conduct 
of  every  sane  mind ;  the  only  danger,  in  this  respect,  being,  that  of  mis- 
taking things  ignoble  in  themselves,  like  the  colonization  pursuit  of  the 
United  States,  for  things  really  and  altogether  noble,  such  as  Sierra 
Leone  was  in  its  foundation. 


48  MEMOIR    OF 

sition  in  every  way  worthy  of  cultivation.  His  capacity 
was  not  extraordinary ;  but  he  excelled  in  distinguishing 
characters.  His  person  was  not  remarkable;  but  his  de- 
meanor was  uncommonly  pleasing,  being  full  of  native 
courtesy  and  delicacy.  His  disposition  was  affectionate 
and  his  feelings  warm.  He  became  deeply  impressed  with 
religious  principles,  and  with  reverence  for  the  sacred  scrip- 
tures. His  morals  were  pure,  and  he  always  shewed  a 
strong  abhorrence  for  profane  conversation,  and  for  every 
kind  of  vice.  Respecting  the  reputation  of  his  country,  he 
displayed  a  lively  jealousy  ;  and  being  once  told  of  a  per- 
son who  had  publicly  asserted  something  highly  derogatory 
to  the  African  character,  he  broke  out  into  violent  and  vin- 
dictive language.  Being  immediately  reminded  of  the  duty 
of  loving  our  enemies,  he  replied,  "If  a  man  should  rob  me 
of  my  money,  I  could  forgive  him  ;  if  he  should  shoot  at 
me,  or  try  to  stab  me,  I  could  forgive  him.  If  he  should  sell 
me  and  all  my  family  into  slavery,  I  could  forgive  him ;  but," 
added  he,  rising  from  his  seat  with  great  emotion  ;  "  if  a  man 
takes  away  the  character  of  the  people  of  my  country,  I  can- 
not forgive  him."  Why,  said  his  friend.  He  answered, 
solemnly,  "  If  a  man  steal  from  me,  or  try  to  kill  me,  or 
sell  me  and  my  family  for  slaves,  he  does  an  injury  to  the 
few,  whom  he  attacks  or  sells.  But  if  any  one  take 
away  the  character  of  black  people,  he  injures  Hack  people 
all  over  the  world  ;  and  when  once  he  has  taken  away  their 
character,  there  is  nothing  which  he  may  not  afterwards  do 
to  black  people.  He  will  beat  black  men,  and  say,  '  Oh,  it 
is  only  a  black  man  /'  He  will  enslave  black  people,  and 
cry,  '  Oh,  they  are  blacks  /'  He  may  take  away  all  the 
people  of  Africa,  if  he  can  catch  them,  and  if  you  ask  him, 

*  Why  do   you   take  away  all  these  people,'  he   will  say, 

*  Oh,  they  are  only  black  people — they  are  not  as  white  as 
we  are — why  should  I  not  take  them  V  That  is  the  reason 
why  I  cannot  forgive  the  man,  who  takes  away  the  char- 
acter of  the  people  of  my  country. — (See  Appendix  3.)j 

What  an  awful  exhibition  of  the  truth  of  this  foresight, 
does  the  present  colonization-mind  of  the  United  States  ex- 
hibit.     How  would  young  Naimbana's  heart  be  wrung 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  49 

could  he  now  traverse  this  land,  and  mark  the  people  who 
commit,  or  excuse,  all  tyrannical,  and  proud,  incestuous,  and 
adulterous,  and  libidinous  intercourse  with  them,  through 
a  system  which  leaves  them  no  choice  and  makes  them  the 
wretched  sufferers  of  all  their  oppressor's  horrible  pleasures 
and  at  the  same  time,  cry  out,  with  horror,  against  imme- 
diately setting  them  free.  "  Yes — he  is  a  black  man" — 
or  "  he  has  one  drop  of  African  blood  in  his  veins" — -or 
"  his  poor  mother  was  violated  and  enslaved  before  him" 
is  confirmation,  "  strong  as  proof  of  holy  writ,"  in  this  land 
now,  against  all  virtuous  brotherhood  for  Naimbana's 
color  ;  and  the  man,  who  will  not  join  the  general  lie,  is 
deemed  a  madman — Oh,  the  glorious  madness — the  land 
is  leavening  with  it — and  the  leaven  is  working.  Yea, 
blessed  be  God — the  heart  of  the  United  States  is  not  dead 
forever — its  prejudices,  though  in  this  respect  the  most 
brutal  on  earth,  are  vincible.  Its  religion,  and  liberty,  and 
manhood  are  reviving  and  are  going  to  be  vindicated  in 
peace,  by  God's  all  conquering  weapons  of  truth  and  love  ; 
and  from  the  Gulph  of  Mexico  to  Canada  ;  and  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  western  prairies,  one  universal  shout  is  pre- 
paring to  ascend,  without  respect  of  persons,  or  of  colors,  of 
"  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest — and  of  peace,  good  will,  to 
men  ;"  to  men,  because  they  are  men  and  Americans — and 
not  because  they  are  not  of  a  color,  which  above  all  others, 
in  modern  times,  has  disgraced  itself  before  God  and  the 
world  ; — to  men,  because  they  are  the  guiltless  sufferers  of 
wrong;  no  longer  limiting  its  respect  and  its  brotherhood, 
to  the  guilty! 

During  the  course  of  these  events,  an  important  effort 
was  organizing  against  the  African  slave  trade — and  could 
a  tree  be  destroyed  by  lopping  off  a  branch;  or,  a  fountain 
be  dried  up  by  separating  one  of  its  streams,  slavery  would 
ere  this  have  received  its  death  blow,  and  the  friends  of 
man  obtained  this  sacred  desire  of  their  hearts. 

In  the  spring  of  1787,  a  meeting  was  held  in  London,  at 
the  house  of  Bennet  Langton,  Esq.  ;  present,  Sir  Charles 
Middleton,   Mr.  Wilberforce,    Mr.  Hawkins   Brown,  Sir 


.50  MEMOIR    OF 

Joshua  Reynolds,  and  two  others,  who  afterwards  proved 
enemies.  At  this  meeting,  Mr.  Wilberforce  was  solicited, 
and  engaged  to  take  the  lead  in  Parliament,  but  soon  after 
falling  sick,  Mr.  Pitt  took  his  place  till  his  recovery.  On 
22d  of  May,  a  committee  of  twelve  was  chosen  and  Gran- 
ville Sharp  was  named  as  one  of  the  committee.* 

This  committee  immediately  dispersed  circulars,  giving 
an  account  of  their  organization  and  object.  The  Friends 
as  a  body  responded  to  the  notice,  with  alacrity — the  Gen- 
eral Baptists  declared  their  concurrence  ;  and  a  correspon- 
dence was  opened  with  the  societies  established  in  New- 
York  and  Philadelphia,  for  the  manumission  of  slaves,  and 
the  abolition  of  slavery.  Mr.  Clarkson's  "  Summary  View 
of  the  Slave  Trade,  and  of  the  probable  consequences  of  its 
Abolition,"  were  extensively  scattered,  and  truth,  thus 
placed  before  them,  took  more  and  more  hold  on  the  best 
minds  in  the  nation.  The  Rev.  John  Wesley  and  Dr.  Price 
gave  their  important  aid.  Robert  Baucher  Nicholls,  Dean 
of  Middleham,  prepared  a  letter,  which  was  printed  by  the 
committee  and  widely  circulated.  Dr.  Watson,  Bishop  of 
LandafT,  added  his  support.  Public  attention  was  aroused — 
meetings  began  to  be  numerously  called — knowledge  was 
multiplied — petitions  poured  in,  and  the  Government  found 
itself  under  a  necessity  of  paying  attention  to  the  noble 
public  sentiment  which  was  rapidly  forming  against  the 
long  cherished  iniquity  of  the  nation. 

In  1788,  Lafayette  was  enrolled,  at  his  own  request, 
amongst  the  honorary  and  corresponding  members  of  the 
society.  John  Jay  and  Benjamin  Franklin  added  their 
honored  names. 

An  ex-jesuit,  called  Harris,  a  clerk  in  a  slave-trading 
house  in  Liverpool,  endeavored  to  support  the  iniquitious 

*  It  is  pleasing  here  to  record,  that  eleven  years  previously,  (in  1776) 
Mr.  David  Hartley  member  of  the  Commons  for  Hull,  had  brought  for- 
ward a  motion,  "  That  the  slave  trade  is  contrary  to  the  laws  of  God  and 
to  the  rights  of  men,"  and  that  Sir  George  Saville,  had  seconded  it.  But 
it  is  equally  painful  to  record,  that  the  British  Parliament  at  that  time, 
had  a  heart  in  this  respect,  altogether  alien  to  God  and  its  brother, 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  51 

system  by  "  Scriptural  Researches  on  the  licitness  of  the 
Slave  Trade."  I  mention  the  fact,  merely  that  similar 
men  now,  may  know  who  their  forefathers  in  spirit,  were. 

In  May,  1788,  Mr.  Pitt  asked  the  Parliament  to  pledge 
itself  to  a  full  discussion  of  the  subject  next  session. 

In  the  spring  of  1789,  Mr.  Wilberforce  introduced  his 
motion ;   but  the  slave  faction  got  the  question  postponed. 

A  section  of  a  slave  ship  meanwhile  with  the  slaves 
stowed  away  in  it,  was  published  and  thrilled  through  the 
public  mind.  The  most  interesting  communications  were 
had  with  Paris. 

Early  in  1790,  Wilberforce  renewed  his  motion — and 
again  was  met  with  delays.  The  combination  against  his 
holy  cause,  was  mighty  ;  and  the  most  false  and  fierce 
alarms  were  industriously  fancied  or  fabricated  to  impede 
it.  "  Civil  war" — "  ruin  and  bloodshed  to  the  colonies" — 
"destruction  to  the  masters,  and  wretchedness  tenfold  worse 
than  slavery  !  !  !  to  the  slaves" — "  anarchy — sterility — 
famine,"  were  portended  as  the  infallible  consequences  of 
"  ceasing  to  do  evil  and  learning  to  do  well" — of  putting  an 
end  by  law  to  a  system  which  is  now  condemned  as 
"  piracy"  and  which  was  then  as  feloniously  piratical  as 
it  is  now  ;  the  only  difference  being,  that  British  law,  now 
speaks  the  truth  respecting  it — and  then  with  brazen  wick- 
edness  supported  falsehood. 

In  April,  1791,  Wilberforce  moved  for  leave  to  bring 
in  "  A  Bill  to  prevent  the  further  importation  of  Slaves 
into  the  British  Colonies  in  the  West  Indies."  But  the 
motion  was  rejected  by  a  majority.  This  defeat  however 
only  stimulated  the  zeal  of  [the  friends  of  humanity.  An 
abridgement  of  all  the  evidence  which  had  been  obtained, 
was  profusely  circulated.  The  invaluable  Thomas  Clark- 
son,  like  a  messenger  of  light,  traversed  the  nation,  and  the 
public  mind  stirred  itself  up  in  behalf  of  holy  love  and  liberty. 
Three  hundred  thousand  persons  at  this  period,  refrained 
from  sugar  altogether  ;  perceiving  that  by  using  it,  they 
were  directly  supporting  the  slave  system  which  they  ab- 
horred. Three  hundred  and  ten  petitions  were  presented 
from  England ;   one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  from  Scot- 


52  MEMOIR    OF 

land  ;  and  twenty  from  Wales.     Free  labor  sugar  could 
not  then  be  had  in  England. 

Here  I  cannot  feel  myself  absolved  from  the  duty  of 
offering  a  few  lines  on  the  subject  of  abstaining  from  slave 
produce.  The  question  relates,  not  to  domestic,  but  to 
agricultural  slavery :  and  the  slavery  here  meant,  is  u  the 
forced  servitude  of  the  guiltless  poor."  Be  it  also  remem- 
bered, that  the  produce  spoken  of,  is  "produce,  poisoned 
(morally  poisoned)  by  the  unrequited  toil,  and  the  unpitied 
anguish  of  the  plundered  and  outraged  poor.  Whenever  I 
see  people,  especially  if  they  in  other  respects  be  anti-sla- 
very men,  enjoying  this  destructive  material,  I  am  forcibly 
reminded  of  the  fable  of"  the  boys  and  the  frogs."  "  It  is 
pleasure  to  you  ;   but  death  to  us." 

Why  do  slave  masters  keep  slaves  ?  To  get  labor  out 
of  them — and  to  get  money  by  their  labor — and  to  gratify 
their  affections  and  appetites  by  money.  They  keep  slaves 
to  please  themselves  and  to  pamper  their  families — God 
and  their  neighbor,  in  this  relation,  are  as  nought  to  them. 

Why  do  people  use  slave  produce  ?  To  please  them- 
selves and  their  company  !  The  cry  of  the  laborer,  whose 
wages  are  kept  back  by  fraud  and  force,  has  gone  up  to 
God  against  it.  It  has  been  watered  with  his  sweat — his 
blood,  gushing  from  the  frequent  lash,  has  manured  it ;  the 
curse  of  his  iniquitous  bondage  is  upon  it ;  for  it,  he  has 
been  deprived  of  wife,  and  child,  and  sacred  home  ;  of  time 
and  liberty  ;  of  body  and  of  mind — all — all  being  his  mas- 
ter's— yet,  this  deeply  poisoned  produce,  people  use,  because 
they  like  it.  Excellent  reason  to  produce  at  the  bar  of 
God  !  !     How  will  it  differ  from  the  slave  master's  ? 

Who  gives  to  the  slave  master  the  money,  which  is  his 
sole  motive  for  keeping  slaves  ?  The  consumers  of  the 
produce  of  forced  and  unrequited  toil.* 

What  is  the  main  source  and  support  of  slavery?  The 
demand  for  the  products  of  its  labor. 

Would  the  supply  be  continued,  if  the  demand  ceased? 
Certainly  not. 

Would  slave  masters  keep  slaves,  if  they  could  not  sell 
the  products  of  their  labor  ?     Certainly  not. 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  53 

Who  create  and  support  this  demand  ?  The  consumers 
of  slave  produce. 

What  then  are  slave  masters  ?  Merely  mercenaries, 
who  when  tempted  or  hired  by  the  consumer,  conduct  o* 
do  the  dreadful  work,  which  must  be  done,  before  the  con- 
sumer, the  tempter,  can  be  gratified. 

Is  it  not,  I  would  solemnly  say  to  every  reader  of  these 
lines,  as  criminal  to  hire  or  support  slavery,  as  it  is  directly 
to  perpetrate  it  1  Or,  if  the  slave  master  be  found  guilty 
at  the  judgment  seat,  can  they  escape,  who  voluntarily  give 
him  the  sole  motive  for  becoming  or  continuing  a  slave 
master?  Consumers  of  slave  produce,  look  well  to  it.  You 
will  want  a  good  answer  at  the  bar  of  God  !  And  remem- 
ber, that -to  darken  truth,  or  to  render  duty  obscure,  by 
excuses  which  art  can  frame,  or  which  corruption  admits, 
is  eternally  a  different  thing  from  any  thing  that  God  can 
approve  of. 


SECTION    IV. 


On  2d  of  April,  1792,  Mr.  Wilberforce  moved  "  that  the 
trade  carried  on  by  British  subjects,  for  the  purpose  of  ob- 
taining slaves  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  ought  to  be  abolish- 
ed." The  discussion  which  ensued,  was  deeply  interesting, 
and  some  progress  was  made.  Mr.  H.  Thornton,  chair- 
man of  the  Sierra  Leone  company,  said  in  the  course  of  it, 
speaking  of  the  slave  trade,  "  It  had  obtained  the  name  of 
a  trade,  and  many  had  been  deceived  by  the  appellation  : 
but  it  was  a  war,  not  a  trade  ;  it  was  a  mass  of  crimes,  and 
not  commerce ;  it  alone  prevented  the  introduction  of  trade 
into  Africa.  *  *  *  *  It  created  more  embarrassments 
than  all  the  natural  impediments  of  the  country,  and  was 
more  hard  to  contend  with,  than  any  difficulties  of  climate, 
soil,  or  natural  dispositions  of  the  people."  Such  is  still 
the  case  ;  and  such  must  continue  to  be  the  case,  until 
slavery,  its  sole  parent  and  support,  is  abolished. 


54  MEMOIR    OF 

In  1793,  Mr.  Wilberforce  renewed  and  lost  his  motion. 
In  1794,  he  renewed  and  carried  it  at  last,  through  the 
House  of  Commons,  but  the  Lords  rejected  it. 

In  1795 — 6,  the  effort  was  renewed  and  negatived. 
In  1797,  an  address  was  carried  to  the  king. 
In  1798 — 9,  Mr.  Wilberforce  renewed  his  motion  and 
was  defeated  :  but  in  the  last  of  these  years  Dr.  Horsley, 
Bishop  of  Rochester,  in  the  house  of  Lords,  nobly  and 
effectually  vindicated  scripture  from  the  blasphemous  im- 
putation of  tolerating  slavery. 

From  this  period,  until  1804,  Mr.  Wilberforce  thought 
it  best  not  to  renew  his  motion,  leaving  the  excitement 
which  had  been  awakened,  to  work,  and  supplying  it  con- 
tinually with  fresh  fuel,  by  means  of  truth  more  and  more 
largely  and  diligently  diffused. 

In  1804,  the  bill  passed  the  Commons,  but  its  discussion 
in  the  Lords  was  deferred  till  next  season. 

In  1805,  Wilberforce  renewed  his  motion,  but  lost  it. 
Mr.  Pitt,  who  had  thus  far  fostered  the  bill,  soon  after  died. 
In  1806,  the  bill  was  committed  to  Sir  Arthur  Piggott, 
the  Attorney  General ;  and  being  introduced  by  him,  passed 
both  houses.  Mr.  Fox  then  moved  (10th  June)  "That 
the  House,  considering  the  slave  trade  to  be  contrary  to  the 
principles  of  justice,  humanity  and  policy,  will,  with  all 
practicable  expedition,  take  effectual  measures  for  its  abo- 
lition." This  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  114  to  15  in 
the  Commons  ;  and  of  41  to  20  in  the  Lords.  Mr.  Fox 
died  before  the  next  session. 

In  1807,  Lord  Granville  brought  into  the  House  of  Lords, 
"  A  bill  for  the  Abolition  of  the  Slave  Trade."  Counsel 
was  heard  against  the  bill  for  four  days.  The  subject  was 
then  thoroughly  discussed — and  the  bill  passed  with  a  ma- 
jority of  100  to  36.  In  the  Commons  the  majority  in  its 
favor  was  283  against  16.  It  passed  the  Commons  on  10th 
February,  1807. 

A  committee  of  the  whole  House  being  then  formed,  a 
bill  was  immediately  passed,  "  that  no  vessel  should  clear 
out  for  slaves,  from  any  port  within  the  British  dominions, 
after  1st  May,  1807  ;"  and  "  that  no  slave  should  be  landed 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  55 

in  the  Colonies  after  1st  March,  1808."  This  bill  was 
passed  on  16th  March,  1807,  and  through  the  strenuous 
exertions  of  Lord  Granville,  received  the  royal  assent  on 
Wednesday,  25th,  a  few  minutes  only  before  the  ministers 
resigned  their  respective  offices,  as  they  had  been  required 
to  do,  by  a  message  delivered  to  them  that  morning. 

So,  fell  the  legality  of  the  African  slave  trade.  God  was 
gracious  to  his  servants  as  far  as  they  were  faithful  to  his 
cause.  They  struck  at  the  branch,  and  were  enabled  to 
fell  it — but  the  root  remained  uninjured  by  the  wound. 
They  attacked  an  effect ;  but  left  the  great  cause  untouched. 
They  cut  off  a  stream  ;  but  left  the  fountain  still  to  pour 
forth  floods  of  guilt  and  misery. 

It  refreshes  my  soul  to  find,  that  Granville  Sharp,  par- 
took  not  of  this  unfaithfulness.  Contemplating  the  depth 
and  almost  death  in  sin,  of  the  national  mind,  the  others 
solemnly  deliberated,  whether  they  should  attack  the  whole 
evil,  or  only  a  part  of  it ;  for  it  does  not  seem,  that  they 
saw  so  clearly,  as  we  now  cannot  help  seeing,  that  the 
slave  trade  was  merely  a  branch  of  slavery — they  saw 
that  it  was  a  similar  evil — but  they  do  not  seem  to  have 
seen,  that  it  was  an  effect  of  another  evil;  and  that  slavery, 
its  cause,  must  be  abolished  before  it  could  cease.  But 
they  shrunk  from  attacking,  at  once,  the  united  force  of  the 
slave  holder  and  of  the  slave  dealer,  and  chose  the  latter 
as  being  most  vincible.  Granville  Sharp,  on  the  contrary, 
questioned  not  the  power  of  his  enemies — he  regarded  not 
the  fewness  of  his  friends — he  did  not  stumble  at  his  own 
unworthiness.  He  saw  his  country's  guilt  and  danger  ;  and 
he  did  not  dare  to  mete  it  out,  as  the  favor  or  fear  of  man 
dictated.  He  heard  the  voice  of  heaven  calling  him  up  to 
the  whole  conflict,  and  he  solemnly  and  vehemently  remon- 
strated with  the  committee  against  the  resolution  which 
they  had  adopted  declaring,  that  "as  slavery  was  as  much 
a  crime  against  the  Divine  law,  as  the  slave  trade,  it  be- 
came the  committee  to  exert  themselves  equally  against 
the  continuance  of  both  ;  and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  pro- 
nounce all  present,  guilty  before  God,  for  shutting  those, 
who  were  then  slaves,  out  of  the  pale  of  their  approaching 


56  MEMOIR    OF 

labors."  He  delivered  this  protest,  with  a  loud  voice,  a 
powerful  emphasis,  and  both  hands  lifted  up  towards  heaven, 
as  was  usual  to  him,  when  much  moved.  The  committee 
acknowledged  the  criminality  of  both,  to  be  the  same — but 
they  adhered  to  their  resolution  ;  fearing,  that  if  they  at- 
tacked at  once,  both  slavery  and  the  slave  trade,  they 
would  succeed  against  neither.  Granville  Sharp,  though 
wounded  to  the  quick  by  this  decision  in  some  of  his  most 
sacred  feelings,  perceived  that  the  burthen  rested  with  him 
no  longer,  his  testimony  having  been  faithfully  borne  ;  and 
he  continued  to  labor  with  cordial  zeal,  in  the  cause  which 
his  friends  were  pursuing.  His  office  in  the  committee, 
was  chairman,  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  the  members,  as 
li  Father,"  in  their  language,  "  of  the  cause  in  England." 
But  while  he  sustained  the  responsibility,  and  performed 
the  duty  of  the  office,  he  would  never  assume  the  chair. 
Thomas  Clarkson  says  of  him,  "  I  have  attended  above 
seven  hundred  committees  and  sub-committees  with  him, 
and  yet,  though  sometimes  but  few  were  present,  he  always 
seated  himself  at  the  end  of  the  room  ;  choosing  rather  to 
serve  the  glorious  cause,  in  humility  through  conscience, 
than  in  the  character  of  a  distinguished  individual."  He 
had  well  learnt  and  steadily  practiced  the  glorious  injunc- 
tion, "  Whosoever  will  be  great  among  you,  let  him  be 
your  minister  ;  and  whosoever  will  be  chief  among  you, 
let  him  be  your  servant."  Matt.  xx.  26,  27. 

Sharp's  extensive  and  intimate  acquaintance  and  corre- 
spondence with  the  noblest  minds  of  the  day,  was  of  essen- 
tial service  to  the  cause.  He  seems  to  have  been  particu- 
larly useful  amongst  the  ministers  of  the  established  church. 
He  was  the  first  who  instructed  Mr.  Pitt  upon  the  subject, 
Pitt  having  sent  for  him  in  consequence  of  Mr.  Wilber- 
force's  illness.  Not  long  after,  Thomas  Clarkson  had  an 
interview  with  Pitt,  and  Pitt  expressed  his  doubts  as  to  the 
reality  of  the  treatment  of  the  slaves,  as  well  as  to  the 
mortality  of  the  seamen  ;  and  also,  as  to  the  riches,  genius 
and  abilities  of  the  African  people.  Clarkson  was  desired 
to  wait  upon  him  the  following  day,  with  such  proofs  as  he 
could  bring,     "^t  the  time  appointed,"  says  Clarkson,  "  I 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  57 

■a 

went,  with  my  books,  papers,  and  African  productions. 
Mr.  Pitt  examined  them  himself.  He  turned  over  leaf 
after  leaf,  in  which  the  copies  of  the  muster  rolls  were  con- 
tained,  with  great  patience,  and  when  he  had  looked  over 
above  a  hundred  pages  accurately,  and  found  the  name  of 
every  seaman  inserted — his  former  abode  or  service — the 
time  of  his  entry — and  what  had  become  of  him,  either  by 
death,  discharge,  or  desertion — he  confessed  with  some 
emotion,  that  his  doubts  were  wholly  removed,  with  respect 
to  the  destructive  nature  of  the  employ  ;  and  he  said,  that 
the  facts  contained  in  these  documents  if  they  had  been  but 
fairly  copied,  could  never  be  disproved. 

c<  He  was  equally  astonished  at  the  various  woods,  and 
other  productions  of  Africa  ;  but  most  of  all,  at  the  manu- 
factures of  the  natives,  in  cotton,  leather,  gold  and  iron, 
which  were  laid  before  him.  These,  he  handled  and  ex- 
amined over  and  over  again.  On  the  sight  of  these,  many 
sublime  thoughts  seemed  to  rush  in  upon  him  at  once  ; 
some  of  which  he  expressed,  with  observations  becoming 
a  great  and  dignified  mind."  Granville  Sharp's  notes  de- 
clare the  same  conviction  of  Mr.  Pitt's  magnanimity  and 
integrity  in  this  holy  cause. 

But  though  Sharp,  as  chairman  and  member  of  the  com- 
mittee of  the  society  for  abolishing  the  African  slave  trade, 
confined  himself  to  that  particular  and  limited  object,  he 
did  not  merge  therein  his  personal  and  separate  identity, 
or  forsake  the  nobler  yearnings  of  his  soul.  Alive  to  the 
cause  of  universal  philanthropy,  he  seized  every  opportu- 
nity of  urging  the  sacred  cause  of  the  slave  ;  and  of  assert- 
ing the  principle  dear  to  his  heart,  which  the  British  code 
and  everlasting  law  alike  establish,  "  that  it  is  better  to 
suffer  every  evil,  than  to  consent  to  any,"  Melius  est  om- 
nia mala  pati,  quam  malo  consentire.  In  a  letter  to  the 
Bishop  of  London,  of  January,  1795,  he  earnestly  warns 
him,  "  of  the  great  national  danger,  of  tolerating  slavery 
in  any  part  of  the  British  dominions,"  and  urges  the  scrip- 
tural doctrines,  that  "  the  throne  is  established  by  right- 
eousness," and  that  no  power  can  be  durably  established 
without  it.     In  a  memorandum,  (without  date)  the  follow- 


58  MEMOIR    OF 

ing  is  the  breathing  of  his  upright  soul :  "  Having  been 
required  by  the  committee  of  the  society  in  London,  insti- 
tuted for  effecting  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade,  to  sign 
officially  and  singly  with  my  name  their  late  resolutions, 

in  answer  to  the  charges  of Esq.;  I  think  it 

right  to  declare,  with  respect  to  myself  individually,  that 
though  I  have  carefully  maintained  the  principles  and  or- 
ders  of  the  society,  in  every  transaction,  wherein  I  have 
been  concerned  as  a  member  of  it,  ever  since  it  was  formed 
in  1787,  and  have  always  strictly  limited  my  official  en- 
deavors to  the  single  declared  object  of  the  institution,  '  the 
abolition  of  the  slave  trade.'  Yet  I  am  bound  in  reason 
and  common  justice  to  mankind,  further  to  declare,  that 
many  years  (at  least  twenty)  before  the  society  was  formed, 
I  thought,  and  ever  shall  think  it  my  duty  to  expose  the 
monstrous  impiety  and  cruelty  {impious  and  cruel,  being  the 
due  epithets  fixed  by  an  allowed  maxim  of  the  law  on  such 
iniquity)  not  only  of  the  slave  trade,  but  also,  of  slavery 
itself,  in  whatever  form  it  is  favored ;  and  likewise  to  assert, 
that  no  authority  on  earth  can  ever  render  such  enormous 
iniquities  legal;  but  that  the  Divine  retribution  (the  i  mea- 
sure for  measure,'  so  clearly  denounced  in  the  holy  scrip- 
tures) will  inevitably  pursue  every  government  or  legisla- 
ture, that  shall  presume  to  establish,  or  even  to  tolerate, 
such  abominable  injustice.  I  should  forfeit  all  title  to  true 
loyalty  as  an  Englisman,  did  J  not  continue  the  same  fixed 
detestation  of  slavery,  which  I  have  publicly  avowed  for 
about  thirty  years  past.  But  my  declarations  on  that 
head,  were  always  intended  as  jriendly  warnings  against 
the  obvious  and  ordinary  consequences  of  that  unchristian 
oppression,  slavery!  but  surely,  not  to  excite  those  fatal 
consequences — for  that  would  be  superfluous,  as  they  are 
in  themselves  but  too  sure  and  inevitable,  unless  timely 
amendment  should  avert  them." 

But  Granville  Sharp's  attention  was  not  confined  to  the 
sacred  objects  which  we  have  been  considering.  They 
indeed  occupied  his  chief  attention,  for  they  most  needed  it. 
Fashion,  honor,  religious  profession  advocated  them  not. 
They  were  amongst  the  poor  and  the  despised  things  of  this 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  59 

world,  and  needed  that  unworldly  love,  of  which  our  blessed 
Lord, has  set  us  so  glorious  an  example.  Those  persons 
therefore  alone,  engaged  in  these  with  ardor,  in  whose 
bosoms  burnt  the  same  unearthly  and  impartial  flame.  Of 
minds  of  this  stamp,  Granville  Sharp  was  the  first ;  but  he 
cordially  united  in  every  other  "labor  of  love." 

He  was  a  liberal  subscriber  to  the  Naval  and  Military 
Bible  Society  which  was  formed  in  1780.  He  presided  on 
2d  May,  1804,  at  the  meeting  in  London,  from  which  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  took  its  rise,  and  is  thus 
mentioned  in  Mr.  Owen's  history  :  "  In  Granville  Sharp, 
the  cause  obtained  a  temporary  patron,  in  whom  the  mem- 
bers of  the  establishment  acknowledged  a  true  churchman, 
and  real  christians  of  every  denomination,  a  friend  and  a 
brother.  Perhaps  it  would  not  have  been  possible  to  find, 
a  man  in  whom  the  qualities  requisite  for  the  first  chairman 
of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  were  so  com- 
pletely united,  as  they  were  in  this  venerable  philanthropist. 
A  churchman  in  faith,  and  universal  in  charity,  he  stamped 
upon  the  institution,  while  it  was  yet  tender,  those  charac- 
ters which  suited  its  constitution  and  its  end  ;  and  while  he 
made  it  respected  by  the  sanction  of  his  name,  he  improved 
it  by  the  influence  of  his  example." 

Within  a  month  after  the  legal  abolition  of  the  African 
slave  trade,  a  new  society  was  formed  (April,  1807)  called 
"  The  African  Institution."  Prior  to  this  it  had  been  well 
ascertained  through  the  settlement  of  Sierra  Leone,  that 
agriculture,  commerce  and  freedom,  might  be  introduced 
into  Africa  :  it  had  been  shown,  that  all  the  various  natural 
products,  brought  from  the  West  Indies,  might  be  raised 
on  the  African  soil ;  that  the  native  chiefs  might  be  made 
to  perceive  the  full  interests  of  peaceful  communication; 
and  that  Africans  in  a  state  of  freedom,  might  be  habituated 
to  labor  in  the  fields,  and  were  capable  of  being  governed  by 
mild  laws,  without  whips,  tortures  or  chains  to  enforce  civil 
obedience.  Even  in  the  cases  of  insubordination,  which 
had  appeared  among  the  settlers,  their  conduct,  when  com- 
pared with  that  of  European  colonists,  was  highly  advanta- 
geous to  the  African  character." 


60  MEMOIR    OF 

Before  the  settlement  of  Sierra  Leone,  Africa  knew  noth. 
ing  of  Europe,  but  her  crimes.  It  would  have  been  against 
all  the  evidence  of  which  they  were  masters  for  Africans 
to  believe  that  Europeans  were  then  honest  men.  When 
charged  with  some  enormous  delinquency,  "What!  do  you 
think  me  a  white  man  ?"  was  their  natural  and  reasonable 
exclamation  !  Of  this,  an  affecting  instance  is  recorded  by 
Admiral  Mather  Buckle,  who  commanded  for  some  time, 
a  small  squadron,  off  the  African  coast.  One  day,  while 
he  was  at  anchor,  an  African  came  off  in  his  canoe,  loaded 
with  fruits,  &c.  The  African  hailed,  and  cried  "  What 
ship  this  V  The  other  replied,  imitating  his  jargon,  "  King 
George  ship — man-of-war  ship."  The  suspicions  of  the 
African  was  awakened,  and  he  retorted,  "  No — you  Bris- 
tol ship  ;"  (Bristol  was  a  port  infamous  for  slave  trading.) 
Admiral  Buckle  calmly  repeated  what  he  had  said  before. 
The  poor  African  could  no  longer  control  his  fears.  "  You 
be,"  he  screamed,  "  you  Bristol  ship,"  plunged  into  the  sea, 
and  left  his  canoe  to  its  fate.  Admiral  Buckle  conduced  to 
shew  the  Africans ^hat  there  were  Europeans  of  a  different 
stamp  from  "  the  Bristol  or  slave  party  men,"  by  sending 
the  canoe  carefully  and  kindly  on  shore. 

The  object  of  the  African  Institution,  was,  "To  improve 
the  temporal  condition  and  the  moral  faculties  of  the  na- 
tives of  Africa  ;  to  diffuse  knowledge  and  excite  industry, 
by  methods  adapted  to  the  peculiar  situation  and  manners  of 
the  inhabitants  ;  to  watch  over  their  execution  of  the  laws 
which  have  been  passed  by  this  and  other  countries,  for 
abolishing  the  African  slave  trade  ;  and  finally,  to  intro- 
duce the  blessings  of  civilized  society,  among  a  people 
sunk  in  ignorance  and  barbarism,  and  occupying  no  less 
than  a  fourth  part  of  the  habitable  globe."  For  these  pur- 
poses, "  it  proposed  no  purchase  of  territory — no  commer- 
cial speculation — no  colonial  settlement — no  religious  mis- 
sion ;  but  to  collect  and  diffuse  information  concerning  the 
natural  productions  of  the  country  ;  its  agricultural  and 
commercial  capacities  ;  and  the  condition,  as  well  intellec- 
tual as  political,  of  its  inhabitants.  To  introduce  and  pro- 
mote  among  them,  letters,  arts,  medical  discoveries,  im- 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  61 

provements  in  husbandry,  and  methods  of  useful  and  legiti- 
mate commerce  ;  to  establish  amicable  correspondences  ; 
to  encourage  enterprise  in  exploring  the  unknown  interior, 
not  merely  to  gratify  curiosity,  but  to  obtain  and  dissemi- 
nate useful  knowledge ;  and  to  open  sources  of  future  in- 
tercourse." Granville  Sharp  was  chosen  one  of  the  first 
Directors  of  this  institution,  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy- 
three,  and  until  within  half  a  year  of  his  death,  continued 
to  give  it  his  bright  and  powerful  support. 

Prisons  and  prisoners — hospitals  and  penitentiaries — 
houses  of  refuge,  and  all  other  benevolent  objects  shared  his 
care.  In  the  year  1800,  a  remarkable  scarcity  occur- 
ring, he  displayed  the  wholesome  temper  of  his  mind,  by 
proposing  to  the  clerk  of  Bridewell  hospital,  that  instead  of 
the  usual  annual  dinner,  the  stewards  who  were  to  have 
furnished  the  expenses  of  it,  should  supply  a  sum  of  equal 
amount,  towards  the  necessities  of  the  patients  in  Bethlehem 
hospital. 

The  sources  from  which  he  derived  the  funds,  which  he 
so  largely  distributed,  were,  the  love  of  his  brothers  and 
other  friends — the  confidence  reposed  in  him,  as  their  al- 
moner, by  wealthy  and  benevolent  individuals  ;  and  be- 
quests left  him  for  his  own  use,  as  well  as  for  general  be- 
neficence* 

His  domestic  affections  were  remarkably  elegant  and 
tender.  An  even  cheerfulness  of  temper  always  distin- 
guished him ;  and  he  was  ever  ready,  with  alacrity,  when 
duty  permitted,  to  dismiss  business  and  study,  and  to  join 
in  the  amusements  of  children.  "  How  eagerly  was  the 
opening  of  his  study  door  watched  by  his  young  relations,  as 
the  signal  for  mirth  and  play  ;  how  gaily  did  they  bound  at  the 
notes  of  his  tabor  and  pipe  ;  how  frequently  did  his  ready 
pencil  delight  them,  with  delineations  of  birds,  or  beasts,  or 
flowers,  &c."  He  was  peculiarly  fond  of  the  company  of 
young  persons  in  general ;  and  the  overflowing  kindness  of 
his  heart  towards  them,  met  with  a  rich  and  sweet  return 
in  their  artless  and  generous  affections. 

In  sickness,  he  was  a  tender  and  edifying  nurse. 

His  benevolence  extended  to  animals.     His  heart  told 


62  MEMOIR    OF 

him,  that  the  miseries  to  which  they  have  become  heirs 
through  man's  rebellion,  ought  not  to  suffer  aggravation 
from  human  despotism.  He  was  ever  prompt,  therefore,  to 
alleviate  their  condition,  as  much  as  in  his  power,  feeling 
that  while  "  it  is  glorious  to  have  a  giant's  strength — it  is 
tyrannous  to  use  it  as  a  giant."  "  The  wretch,"  he  used  to 
say,  "  who  is  bad  enough  to  maltreat  a  helpless  beast, 
would  not  spare  his  fellow  man,  if  he  had  him  as  much  in 
his  power." 

He  travelled  much,  (always  resting  on  the  Sabbath)  and 
greatly  enjoyed  the  observation  of  endlessly  vaiied  cha- 
racter which  he  thus  met  with.  Edification  was  his  con- 
stant  pursuit.  One  day*  a  fellow  passenger,  impatient  at 
the  delays  on  the  road,  burst  out  into  immoderate  rage,  with 
many  oaths.  Sharp  was  silent  at  the  time  ;  but  next  morn- 
ing he  sought  out  the  angry  traveller,  and  earnestly  remon- 
strated with  him. 

In  his  youth,  he  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Sir  William 
Jones  ;  and  when  that  admirable  man  was  departing  for  the 
East  Indies,  Granville,  in  a  fervent  interview,  urging  the 
duty  and  privilege  of  prayer,  said  to  him,  "  We  have  talked 
together  on  many  subjects — but  not  sufficiently  on  the  most 
material  of  all,  the  perfect  reliance  which  we  ought  to  feel 
upon  the  will  of  our  Creator."  Sir  William  delighted  him, 
by  replying,  that  "  he  was  constant  in  prayer."  These 
brother  spirits,  seem  both  to  have  entered  deeply  into  the 
full  import  of  the  blessed  injunction,  "  Whether  ye  eat  or 
drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God." 

In  manners,  Sharp  was  full  of  courtesy  and  of  attentive- 
ness  to  others — but  his  urbanity  was  subject  to  no  modes  of 
men — it  was  the  gush  of  undissembling  love,  warm   from 
his  heart.     It    was  the  politeness  of  the  Christ-like  man, 
and  not  of  the  man  of  the  world. 

His  mental  faculties  continued  vigorous  until  the  begin- 
ning of  1813,  his  seventy-eighth  year,  about  half  a  year  be- 
fore his  death.  A  rapid  and  painful  decay  then  came  on. 
His  affections  were  as  lively,  and  his  sense  of  duty  was  as 
strong  as  ever  ;  but  his  understanding  tottered,  and  his 
memory  failed.     He  was  not  himself,  however,  aware  of 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  63 

the  decay,  until  awakened  to  it  by  a  painful  circumstance, 
in  June,  1813.  Feeling  it  a  duty  to  go  to  London  from 
Fulham,  where  he  then  resided  ;  he  could  not  be  prevailed 
upon  by  the  remonstrances  of  his  friends,  which  he  did  not 
understand,  to  decline  the  journey  ;  but  started  next  morn- 
ing by  the  public  coach,  before  the  family  was  up.  When 
they  arose,  a  servant  was  immediately  despatched  after 
him,  but  he  could  not  be  found.  His  heavenly  Father,  how- 
ever, had  not  forgotten  his  "  little  one."  The  generous 
coachman,  who  carried  him  to  town,  perceiving  his  altered 
state,  felt  much  anxiety  about  him,  and  as  soon  as  he  had 
settled  the  business  of  the  coach,  hastened  in  search  of  him. 
He  found  him  at  the  door  of  his  chambers  in  the  temple, 
wandering  about  in  a  state  of  incertitude,  being  unable  to 
guide  himself  to  that  part  of  the  city,  which  he  wished  to 
reach.  He  was  easily  prevailed  upon  to  return  to  Fulham, 
as  it  was  getting  late,  and  was  soon  again  in  the  tender  cir- 
cle of  domestic  love.  His  intellect  partook  of  the  decay  of 
his  body.     But  love  was  unwithering,  like  his  soul. 

He  now  saw  death  at  his  door,  and  was  almost  disap- 
pointed. He  seems  to  have  fancied  that  the  millenial  glo- 
ry was  close  at  hand,  aud  that  he  should  witness  it  in  the 
body.  It  was  but  the  change,  however,  of  a  delightful 
dream,  into  an  all  glorious  reality.  His  rest  was  at  hand. 
On  the  day  preceding  his  death,  he  breakfasted,  as  usual, 
with  the  family.  His  weakness  was  great  during  the  day, 
and  repeatedly  obliged  him  to  lie  down.  He  often  seemed 
to  labor  for  breath.  Night  and  partial  repose  came  on. 
On  the  morning  of  6th  July,  1813,  the  color  of  his  counte- 
nance was  changed,  but  its  sweet  expression  remained. 
About  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  he  fell  into  a  tranquil 
slumber,  and  soon  afterwards,  without, a  struggle  or  a  sigh, 
while  those  who  loved  him  watched  him,  and  before  they 
were  sensible  of  his  departure,  he  was  asleep  in  the  arms  of 
Jesus.  All  that  could  die,  of  Granville  Sharp,  was  dead. 
But  Granville  Sharp,  the  immortal  man  ;  the  blood-bought 
sinner ;  the  little  child  of  God  ;  the  unbending  and  unwa- 
vering advocate  of  all  righteousness  ;  the  servant  of  truth  ; 


64  MEMOIR    OF 

the  friend  of  man,  (not  because  he  was  black  or  white  ;  or 
Englishman  or  foreigner — but  because  he  was  God's 
creature,  in  God's  image,  for  God's  glory,  the  object  of 
Christ's  love,  in  hopes  of  heaven,  in  danger  of  hell,  of 
one  blood,  and  of  one  law,  and  of  one  calling  with  him- 
self;) yes,  Granville  Sharp,  the  friend  of  man,  then  indeed 
began  to  live  !  He  slept.  He  wakened — but  not  as  he 
had  been  used  to  waken  ;  still  a  prisoner  in  the  body,  and 
subject  to  all  the  ills  to  which  it  gives  access — but  "the 
sunshine  of  heaven  beamed  bright  on  his  waking — and  the 
song  which  he  heard  7/asthe  cherubims'  song." 

His  departure  was  honored  by  various  societies,  and  a 
monument  in  Westminster  Abbey,  in  that  part  which  is 
well  known  by  the  name  of  Poet's  Corner,  marks  the  pub- 
lic sense  of  his  merits.  On  this  monument,  a  lion  and  lamb 
are  represented  on  one  side,  lying  down  together ;  and  on 
the  other,  an  African,  supplicating,  in  chains.  The  follow- 
ing is  part  of  the  inscription  : 

(t  He  was  incessant  in  his  labours  to  improve  the  condition  of  mankind. 

Founding  public  happiness,  upon  public  virtue, 

He  aimed  to  rescue  his  native  country  from  the  guilt  and  inconsistency 

Of  employing  the  arm  of  freedom,  to  rivet  the  fetters  of  bondage ; 

And  established  for  the  negro  race,  in  the  person  of  Somerset, 

The  long  disputed  rights  of  human  nature  : 

Having  in  this  glorious  cause,  triumphed  over  the  combined  resistance 

of  Interest,  Prejudice  and  Pride." 

A  few  general  observations  may  be  added,  in  relation  to 
this  dear  brother  in  the  Lord. 

Although  singularly  blessed  with  an  intuitive  clearness, 
and  correctness  of  judgment,  and  with  the  most  generous 
and  decided  firmness  in  asserting  and  supporting  his  con- 
victions, he  was  not  quick  at  repartee,  nor  always  power- 
ful in  colloquial  reasoning.  False  conclusions  rarely  arose 
in  his  mind  ;  and  false  reasoning  scarely  ever  perplexed  him. 
He  deeply  saw,  but  he  could  not  always  distinctly  expose, 
on  the  spot,  the  sophistries  of  others.  Hence,  he  some- 
times appeared  to  be  vanquished,  when  in  God's  sight,  he 
was  most  triumphant ;  when  the  thorough  rectitude  of  his 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  65 

mind,  was  rising  above  the  poverty  of  his  utterance,  and 
his  soul  was  rallying  most  mightily  upon  God.  This  ap- 
pears to  have  been  particularly  the  case  in  a  conversation 
which  he  had  with  the  celebrated  Dr.  J©hnson,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  impressing  seamen.  Johnson  defended  the  practice, 
and  overwhelmed  Sharp  with  words.  Sharp  mourned,  but 
was  strengthened.  He  only  saw  the  more  clearly,  the 
need  in  which  that  wildly  noble,  but  much  outraged  class 
stood  of  an  advocate  ;  and  he  was  only  stirred  up,  the  more 
vigorously  to  defend  their  sacred  rights. 

His  regard  for  the  established  church,  appears  to  me,  to 
have  been  excessive — and  his  objections  to  Catholic  eman- 
cipation, I  cannot  but  condemn  ;  but  I  am  hereby  taught  a 
new  lesson  of  humility,  in  relation  to  political  and  ecclesi* 
astical  questions  ;  and  I  see,  more  clearly  than  ever,  the 
vital  necessity  of  distinguishing  them  from  questions  of 
moral  and  eternal  importance,  such  as  religion  itself;  im- 
partial equity;  the  rights  of  the  poor ;  personal  liberty  and 
property  ;  brotherly  love,  &c;  that  while  I  yield  all  the  lati- 
tude which  God  has  given  them,  to  things  of  a  political 
and  ecclesiastical  nature,  I  may  follow  God's  exactness 
and  invariableness,  in  relation  to  moral  and  eternal  things. 

He  united,  in  an  admirable  manner,  the  respect  due  to 
office  or  condition,  with  the  kindness  due  to  the  person 
who  fills  it,  and  with  the  candid  boldness  which  truth  de- 
mands. He  rebuked  severely ;  but  he  seems  rarely  to  have 
given  offence.  Every  body  saw  that  he  loved  every  body  ; 
and  that  the  severity  and  constancy  of  his  censures,  sprung 
from  the  same  holy  source.  There  was  a  glorious  con- 
sistency in  him,  which  precluded  all  well  grounded  re- 
proach. His  favorite  text  of  scriptural  duty  was,  "  The 
tree  which  beareth  not  good  fruit,  shall  be  cut  down  and 
cast  into  the  fire." 

"  God  appeared  to  have  raised  him  up,  and  qualified 
him,"  says  John  Owen,  "  for  the  work  of  political  and 
moral  reformation.  He  had,  in  a  measure,  the  spirit  and 
power  of  Elijah.  He  was  jealous  for  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
and  he  hated  iniquity  with  a  perfect  hatred ;  but  with  all 

6 


66 


MEMOIR    OF 


his  ardor  for   reform,  (an  ardor  which  only  expired  with 
his  life)  he  was  full  of  loyalty  and  subordination. 

HE  RESTS  WITH  JESUS : 

"  GLORY  TO  GOD  IN  THE  HIGHEST  ; 

AND  ON  EARTH, 

PEACE,   GOOD  WILL,  TOWARDS  MEN," 


SECTION      V. 


The  preceding  history,  and  the  circumstances  around 
me,  force  an  additional  topic  upon  my  attention. 

Granville  Sharp  has  been  quoted  as  a  favorer  of  coloni- 
zation— and  even  of  such  colonization,  as  the  Colonization 
Society  of  the  United  States  is  now  conducting.  I  know 
not  whether  the  Virginia  and  Maryland  colonization  plans, 
have  equally  claimed  him. 

What  is  the  fact?  How  shall  we  get  at  it?  Where  is 
our  evidence  ? 

We  must  seek  it,  I  presume,  1st  from  the  well  known 
and  ruling  principles  of  his  mind — 2d  from  his  own  corre- 
spondence or  memoranda,  as  far  as  we  have  access  to 
them — 3d,  from  a  fair  comparison  between  Sierra  Leone 
and  Liberia — 4th,  by  examining  together,  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  two  establishments — 5th,  from  an  impar- 
tial consideration  of  the  national  state  of  mind,  in  both 
cases — and  6th,  from  the  general  character  of  their  most 
congenial  advocates. 

Let  us  however  understand  our  terms  before  we  proceed. 

By  colonization,  we  mean,  not  such  as  William  Penn's. 
The  first  settlement  of  Pennsylvania  is  a  colonial  oasis — 
no  more  like  colonies  in  general,  than  the  fresh  springs  of 
the  desert,  are  like  the  burning  sands,  which  surround  them. 
We  mean  not  missionary  establishments,  such  as  adorn  the 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  67 

islands  of  the  Pacific,  or  such  as  pour  over  the  hunted  and 
scorched  soul  of  the  otherwise  outraged  aborigines  of 
Georgia,  Alabama,  and  Tennessee,  sweet  rills  of  the  water 
of  life.  But  we  mean  colonies,  such  as  those  of  Phoenicia 
and  Athens — such  as  those  of  Spain  and  Portugal — such 
as  those  of  France,  Great  Britain  and  Holland — such  as 
Liberia  itself;  in  fact,  political  and  commercial  colonies, 
whatever  be  their  pretence.  Armed  settlements,  of  civi- 
lized, on  the  shores  of  uncivilized  people. 

If  this  be  not  our  meaning.  If,  on  the  contrary,  such 
colonies  as  William  Penn's,  or  such  as  the  missionary 
establishments  of  the  British  and  American  missionary 
societies,  be  meant — colonies  without  other  weapons  than 
the  weapons  which  through  Christ  overcome  by  love  and 
by  suffering  perseverance  in  well  doing — our  controversy 
is  at  an  end.  With  delight  I  grant  that  of  such  colonies, 
Granville  Sharp  was  the  friend  indeed. 

Presuming  however,  that  at  present  we  have  nothing  to 
do  with  colonies  of  this  unearthly  description,  but  with  such 
colonies  as  Liberia,  &c,  our  question  is,  Was  Granville 
Sharp  a  friend  of  such  colonies  as  these  ? 

What  were  the  well  known  and  ruling  principles  of  his 
mind?  They  were  eminently,  equity — love — and  peace. 
Equity  without  respect  of  colors  or  of  persons — undissem- 
bling  and  holy  love — harmless,  suffering,  Christ-like  peace — 
the  ministering  spirit,  like  his  Lord  and  master's  conquer- 
ing by  services  of  love.  Witness,  his  resignation  of  office, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  revolutionary  war,  &c.  The  only 
exception  of  which  I  am  aware  is,  that  in  1780,  when  Lon- 
don was  jeoparded  by  outrageous  riots,  he  offered  to  be- 
come a  citizen  soldier  during  the  emergency.  This  is  an 
anomaly  in  his  character — I  do  not  attempt  to  account  for 
it,  and  1  will  not  defend  it.  It  is,  however,  but  an  exception, 
and  serves  only  to  render  the  opposite  rule,  the  law  of  peace, 
which  governed  his  life,  more  lovely — -or  should  a  fighter 
scoff  at  this,  and  applaud,  in  resisting  evil,  the  pouring  out 
of  brother's  blood  by  brother,  let  him,  if  he  be  consistent, 
advocate  the  rising  of  the  Russian  serfs  against  their  lord- 
lings  ;  or  with  greater  emphasis  still,  the  striking  by  vio* 


68  MEMOIR    OF 

lence  for  their  liberties  of  the  Southern  slaves  ;  since,  if 
resisting  evil  by  violence,  ever  can  be  right,  it  unquestion- 
ably must  be  eminently  so,  when  slaves  rise  for  their  un- 
forfeited  liberties. 

But  no ;  Granville  Sharp,  was  a  friend  of  peace.  He 
had  studied  his  Bible  too  much,  and  loved  it  too  well,  to  be 
ignorant  of  the  injunctions,  "  love  worketh  no  ill  to  its 
neighbor  ;"  "  resist  not  evil  ;"  "recompense  no  man  evil 
for  evil ;"  "  avenge  not  yourselves;"  "be  not  overcome 
of  evil — but  overcome  evil  with  good  ;"  "love  your  ene- 
mies— bless  them  that  curse  you — do  good  to  them  that 
hate  you — and  pray  for  them  that  despitefully  use  you  and 
persecute  you."  Rom.  xiii.  10;  Matt.  v.  39;  Rom.  xii. 
17;    19;   21  ;   Matt.  v.  44.* 

No ;  opposite,  eternally  and  totally  opposite  as  arc  war 
and  peace,  so  opposite  were  the  well  known  and  ruling 
principles  of  Granville  Sharp's  mind,  to  the  whole  coloni- 
zation spirit.  Do  we  need  an  evidence.  Look  at  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  !  Who  stand  shivering  there  ?  Voluntary 
exiles,  preferring  the  rights  of  conscience,  the  rights  of  law- 
ful liberty  in  all  things,  to  friends,  country,  fortune,  ease. 
The  world  has  never  seen  a  nobler  band  of  colonists.  If 
armed  colonies  of  civilized  people,  could  ever  be  a  blessing 

*  Some  time  before  the  legal  abolition  of  the  African  slave  trade-,  a  Ja- 
maica planter  purchased  a  fine  young  African,  took  him  into  Ins  house, 
and  made  him  his  confidential  slave.  The  young  man  felt  his  master's 
kindness  and  gave  him  his  generous  heart  in  return — ^ome  years  had 
elapsed — a  new  car^o  had  just  arrived,  when  his  master  falling  in  want 
of  twenty  additional  hands,  resorted  with  him  to  the  slave  market  and 
committed  the  choice  to  him.  The  young  African  knowing  no  better, 
and  wishing  to  please  his  master,  immediately  busied  himself  about  the 
work,  and  had  chosen  several  to  his  mast' is  satisfaction,  when  suddenly 
he  paused  and  stood  transfixed  before  a  poor  old  emaciated  stranger  that 
was  groaning  on  the  ground — "Go  on,"  said  his  master,  "that  man 
won't  do,  you  see  he  is  old  and  sick."  "Massa,"  cried  the  young  African, 
'•  you  must  buy  me  dat  man."  "  He  wont  do,  I  tell  you,"  said  his  master 
impatienly,  "go  on  immediately  and  choose  the  rest.  "  Massa,"  repeat- 
ed the  slave,  "you  mu*t  buy  me  dat  man."  And  this  was  the  only 
answer  the  master  could  get.  The  slave  dealer  hearing  the  angry  words 
which  followed,  came  up  and  said  contemptuously,  "  Oh  you  need  not 
make  such  a  fuss  about  that  old  man — he  is  srood  for  nothing  — yo  along 
and  please  your  master,  and  if  we  can  agree  about  the  rest,  you  shall  have 
him  into  che  bargain."  The  young  African,  immediately  sprang  for- 
ward—did his  best — pleased  his  master — the  bargain  was  madej  and 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  69 

to  the  uncivilized  tribes  amongst  which  they  settle,  our 
Pilgrim  forefathers  had  been  such  !  But  it  is  out  of  nature — 
and  even  the  Christianity,  to  which  it  is  akin,  is  deemed 
insane,  by  the  Christianity  of  the  world,  alt  bristling  with 
bayonets,  ready  to  pour  showers  of  death  from  the  cannon's 
mouth,  and  crimsoned  over  and  over,  with  its  brother's 
blood — such  are  armed  colonies.  They  have  always  been, 
and  must  always  be,  while  man  is  a  sinner,  and  while 
Christianity  remains  the  proud  and  bloody  thing  which  it 
yet  is  in  this  particular,  in  almost  all  the  churches — like 
the  blast  of  death  to  the  poor  native  !  !  Strangers  come, 
and  he  is  swept  from  the  land  of  his  forefathers — their  fields 
wave  rich  with  corn — their  trees  hang  heavy  with  fruit — 
their  church  spires  pierce  the  skies — their  outward  Sab- 
baths are  kept  by  multitudes — commerce,  arts,  arms  flour- 
ish— literature  is  rife,  and  palace-like  are  the  dwellings 
which  adorn  the  land.  But  the  law  of  God  is  meted  and 
parceled  out,  at  will,  or  by  tradition.  A  man,  walking 
close  with  Christ,  is  deemed  a  lunatic.  Fashion  and  cus- 
tom and  public  opinion  are  the  gods,  slavery  is  nursed  in 
the  lap  of  republics, — and  the  aboriginies  have  perished  ; 
or  linger  in  oppressed  and  scattered  remnants,  a  memento 

receiving  the  sick  old  man,  as  promised,  he  immediately  led  him  off'  to 
his  hut,  and  became  as  a  son  to  him.  His  best  of  every  thing  was  ap- 
propriated to  the  dying  stranger.  When  the  wind  blew  chill  through  the 
rain,  he  hastened  to  cover,  or  to  kindle  a  little  fire  to  warm  him.  When 
the  sun  burnt  and  the  air  was  still,  he  made  him  a  couch  under  the  thick 
tamarind,  or  sat  beside  and  fanned  his  fainting  brow.  The  master  heard 
the  facts,  was  affected,  and  coming  kindly  to  the  cottage  said,  "  What 
makes  you  love  that  old  man  so  ?  Is  he  your  father  1"  "No,  massa!" 
replied  the  young  African,  with  great  emotion,  "  he  no  my  father  !"  "Is 
he  your  uncle !"  "  No,  massa!"  "  Is  he  your  brother — your  neighbor — 
your  friend,  naming  every  connection  he  could  think  of:  still  the  young 
African,  mournfully  answered,  "No!"  "Who  is  he  then,"  exclaimed 
the  master  with  surprise,  "  what  makes  you  love  him  so."  "  Massa,"  re- 
plied the  young  African,  solemnly,  "dat  man  my  worst  enemy — derfore 
me  love  him  so — when  me  live  in  my  own  country,  wid  my  own  dear 
fader  and  moder  dat  man  come  steal  me — carry  me  away — sell  me  to  de 
slave  dealers — massa  me  no  more  see  my  country — or  my  fader  or  my 
moder.  Yes,  massa,  dat  man  my  worst  enemy — derfore  me  love  him  so, 
cause  massa,  in  dat  good  book  you  teach  me  read,  de  great  God,  say, 
'Love  your  enemies — if  dy  enemy  hunger  feed  him  ;  if  he  thirst,  give 
him'drink— be  not  overcome  of  evil,  but  overcome  evil  wid  good.'  " 

6* 


TO  MEMOIR    OF 

to  armed  colonies,  of  the  cruel  iniquity  of  their  heart,  and 
of  the  daring  hypocrisy  of  their  boastings. 

Liberia  has  already  waded  through  two  wars — defensive 
wars — wars,  we  will  suppose,  as  virtuous  as  wars  can  be. 
Her  first  hero,  exulted  in  the  play  of  cannon  balls,  plunging 
like  lightning  upon  that  solid  mass  of  human  flesh,  then 
at  Monrovia.  The  blood  of  the  heathen  in  his  sins,  has 
crimsoned  her.  When  God  "  maketh  inquisition  for  blood," 
will  he  not  remember  them  alike,  the  conquerors  and  the 
conquered  ? 

Yes — Granville  Sharp,  the  man  of  peace,  and  armed  col- 
onies prepared  to  overcome  evil  with  evil,  are  each  others 
antipodes. 

2d.  Can  we  get  any  further  light  from  his  correspon- 
dence or  memoranda  ? 

In  the  volume  from  which  I  chiefly  draw  my  materials 
for  this  short  memoir,  (Memoir's  of  Granville  Sharp,  by 
Prince  Hoare,  London,  1820)  I  find  a  very  interesting 
letter  from  Samuel  Hopkins  to  him,  dated  "  Newport, 
Rhode  Island,  15th  January,  1789,"  together  with  Gran- 
ville's  reply.  Samuel  Hopkins  declares  his  having  felt  it 
his  duty  to  condemn  and  to  preach  against  both  the  slave 
trade  (1)  and  slavery,  publicly  ;  he  says  that  a  conviction 
of  the  evil  of  those  practices  was  spreading,  and  notices  the 
New- York  and  Philadelphian  societies,  which  I  have  men- 
tioned. He  states  that  in  Massachusetts,  all  were  free, 
&c,  &c.  "  But,"  adds  he,  "  the  circumstances  of  the 
freed  blacks,  are  in  many  respects  unhappy,  while  they 
live  here  among  the  whites  ;(2)  as  the  latter  look  down 
upon  the  former,  and  are  disposed  to  treat  them  as  under- 
lings, and  deny  them  the  advantages  of  education  and  em- 
ployment, &c,  which  tends  to  depress  their  minds,  and 
prevent  their  obtaining  a  comfortable  living,  and  involves 
them  in  many  other  disadvantages.  This  and  other  con- 
siderations (3)  have  led  many  of  them  to  desire  to  return 
to  Africa  (4)  and  settle  there  among  their  equals  and 
brethren,  and  in  a  country  and  climate  more  natural  to 
them  than  this.  Particularly  there  are  a  number  of  reli- 
gious (5)  blacks,  with  whom  I  am  acquainted,  who  wish 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  71 

to  be  formed  into  a  distinct  church  or  religious  society  ; 
and  to  have  a  black  appointed  to  be  their  pastor  (and  there 
is  one  at  least,  who  is  thought  to  be  qualified  for  that  of- 
fice) and  then  to  go,  with  all  the  blacks  that  shall  be  will- 
ing to  move  with  them,  to  Africa,  and  settle  on  lands,  which 
they  think  may  be  obtained  of  some  of  the  nations  there, 
from  whom  some  of  them  were  taken,  and  whose  language 
they  retain  ;  and  there  maintain  the  profession  and  prac- 
tice of  Christianity,  (6)  and  spread  the  knowledge  of  it, 
among  the  Africans,  as  far  as  they  shall  have  opportunity  ; 
at  the  same  time  cultivating  their  lands,  and  introducing 
into  that  hitherto  uncivilized  country,  the  arts  of  husbandry, 
building  mills  and  houses,  and  other  mechanic  arts,  and 
raising  tobacco,  cotton,  coffee,  indigo,  &c,  for  exportation 
as  well  as  for  their  own  use." 

Samuel  Hopkins  then  proceeds  to  mention  the  reports 
which  he  had  heard  respecting  Sierra  Leone — proposes 
several  questions,  and  thus  concludes  :  "  Finally,  whether 
the  blacks  in  New  England,  who  have  been  educated  and 
habituated  to  industry  and  labor,  either  on  lands  or  as  me- 
chanics, and  are  thereby  prepared  to  bring  forward  such 
a  settlement  better,  I  believe,  than  any  other  blacks  that 
can  be  found — whether  these  blacks  can  have  any  part  of 
those  lands  to  settle  themselves  upon,  and  on  what  terms, 
and  what  encouragement  and  assistance  might  they  proba- 
bly have  V 

G.  Sharp  in  a  letter  dated  Leadenhall-street,  25th  July, 
1789,  states  the  difficulties  and  disasters  which  the  colony 
had  experienced,  and  its  then  revived  condition.  He  offers 
no  lure  to  Hopkins'  project,  but  assures  him  of  a  kind  re- 
ception of  the  objects  of  his  care,  should  they  come  as 
British  subjects,  and  "all  at  one  time"  He  mentions  being 
informed  that  the  laws  were  very  good ;  the  neighboring 
natives  very  civil ;  and  King  Naimbana  a  cordial  friend  ; 
and  he  dwells  in  conclusion,  upon  the  difficulty  and  impor- 
tance of  providing  the  settlement  with  a  "  live  stock  of 
cattle"  as  they  had  none. 

The  glaring  discordances  between  these  views  and  the 
American  Colonization  system  may  thus  be  briefly  noticed. 


72  MEMOIR    OF 

(1)  Samuel  Hopkins  speaks  boldly  and  publicly  against 
slavery — the  A.  C.  S.  excuses  it.  (2)  He  mentions  the 
wrong  which  the  colored  people  were  suffering,  throwing 
the  guilt  where  it  rested  upon  the  whites ! — the  A.  C.  S. 
attaches  the  guilt  to  the  suffering  colored  people,  and  ex- 
cuses the  whites  who  are  the  actual  criminals.  (3)  S.  H. 
is  moved  by  the  wishes  of  the  sufferers  themselves — the  A. 
C.  S.  is  acting  in  direct  and  open  violation  of  the  almost 
universal  wishes  of  the  sufferers.  (4)  Most  of  the  colored 
people  spoken  of  by  S.  H.  were  Africans  themselves,  or, 
had  still  relations  and  acquaintances  in  Africa,  and  retained 
the  languages  of  that  country ! — the  colored  people,  about 
whom  the  A.C.  S.  busy  themselves,  are  almost  universally 
Americans,  and  know  nothing  of  the  languages  of  Africa. 

(5)  S.  H.  speaks  of  his  proteges,  in  the  most  respectful 
and  affectionate  terms — the  A.  C.  S.  slander  most  grossly 
and  cruelly  the  pretended  objects  of  their  benevolence. 

(6)  S.  H.  speaks  of  his  poor,  as  already  qualified  by  prin- 
ciples and  habits  long  established,  and  by  attainments  al- 
ready made,  to  be  a  blessing  to  Africa — the  A .  C.  S.  speaks 
of  theirs,  as  about  to  be  transmuted  by  passing  the  Atlantic, 
from  semi-devils  to  semi-angels,  to  more  than  men!  in  the 
United  States,  unfit  to  be  allowed  to  remain  in  their  native 
country  !  but  in  Africa,  above  all  human  influences,  uncor- 
rupt  and  incorruptible  ;  such  men  and  women  as  the  world 
has  never  seen  ;  as  the  United  States,  with  all  its  real 
glory,  and  with  all  its  cruel  boasts,  has  not!  (7)  Granville 
Sharp  in  his  reply,  bids  the  strangers  welcome,  but  allures 
them  by  no  fairy  tales  of  Sierra  Leone — the  A.  C.  S.  made 
Liberia  as  much  and  as  long  as  it  could,  a  little  paradise. 
(8)  Both  G.  S.  and  S.  H.  were  evidently  the  ministers  and 
servants  in  love  for  Christ's  sake,  of  the  people  of  their 
care — the  A.  C.  S.  takes  sides  with  their  slanderers  and 
oppressors,  and  spurns  them  with  all  the  benevolence  of  aris- 
tocratic pride  from  their  native  country.  Can  darkness 
and  light — can  right  and  wrong  be  more  opposite.  If  any 
one  ask  for  my  authorities,  I  refer  them  to  the  Annual 
Reports  and  to  the  African  Repositories  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society,  and  to  Judge  Jay's  admirable  book ; 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  73 

as  well  as  to  any  of  my  own  more  recent  tracts,  which  may 
fall  in  their  way,  especially  to  "  Prejudice  Vincible,  by 
better  means  than  slavery  and  exile." 

3d.  A  fair  comparison  between  Sierra  Leone  and 
Liberia. 

Sierra  Leone  was  provided  as  a  place  of  refuge,  not  for 
Englishmen,  but  for  poor  strangers  most  of  whom  were 
Africans.  Liberia  was  provided  for  people,  almost  all  of 
whom  were  born  and  bred  in  the  United  States,  and  are 
therefore  as  truly  Americans  as  any  other  natives  of  that 
country. 

The  settlers  of  Sierra  Leone,  were  distressed  in  England, 
by  the  distant  colonial  wickedness  (of  which  the  United 
States  largely  partook,  slavery  in  the  United  States  being 
coadjutor  in  it  with  West  Indian  slavery)  which  made  them 
exiles,  and  with  the  exuberant  native  English  popula- 
tion, which  left  little  or  no  demand  for  their  labor.  The 
settlers  of  Liberia  were  distressed  at  home,  by  the  inflated 
and  iniquitious  heart  of  their  country,  refusing  them  honest 
employments,  despising  them  as  "  underlings'''  and  goading 
them  to  exile,  as  the  only  means  of  honor  and  of  happiness. 

The  founders  of  Sierra  Leone,  were  the  servants  in  love 
of  the  settlers.  The  founders  of  Liberia  (with  two  or  three 
exceptions)  were  the  slanderers  and  despisers  of  the  set- 
tlers, till  they  could  get  them  to  a  sufficient  distance. 

The  founders  of  Sierra  Leone,  contemplated  removing 
those  only  who  were  really  in  distress  in  England  from  pro- 
vidential circumstances,  or  who,  being  Africans,  were  anx- 
ious to  return  to  their  native  country  :  holding  those  who 
chose  to  remain,  as  honored  and  as  welcome  in  England 
as  any  of  the  rest  of  its  inhabitants.  The  founders  of  Li- 
beria contemplated  removing,  a  whole  people,  as  they  may 
be  called  (the  free  colored  people  of  the  United  States) 
some  of  whom  were  wealthy — some  of  whom  were  highly 
cultivated — some  of  whom  were  amongst  the  most  precious 
jewels  in  their  country,  of  the  Lord  of  hosts — many  of 
whom  were  in  independant  circumstances,  and  all  of  whom 
taking  them  as  a  body,  might  have  been  most  happy  and 
useful  at  home — and  why  then  remove  them?     Why,  to 


74  MEMOIR    OF 

gratify  an  eminently  insane  and  cruel  state  of  public  feel- 
ing— and  how  ?  Why,  by  taking  sides  with  that  insane 
and  cruel  feeling,  and  by  flattering  its  wickedness  in  order 
to  obtain  its  insolent  and  supercilious  aid. 

Love ;    impartial,    brotherly,    christian   love,    was   the 
source  of  Sierra  Leone.     Hatred  and  contempt  for  color— 
or  often  in  defiance  of  all  truth,  and  in  contempt  of  all  evi- 
dence for  what  is  called  color — or  for  one  drop  of  African, 
though  mingled  with  streams  of  European  blood  ;  or,  more 
absolutely  than  for  either  of  these,  for  the  enormous  crime, 
of  their  poor  mothers'  having  been  most  shamelessly  and 
iniquitously  degraded  and  outraged  before  them.      Such 
hatred  and  contempt,  were  the  great  source,  and  still  con- 
tinue the  efficient  support  of  Liberia — so  thorougly  so,  that 
would  the  orthodox,  (not  ortho-prax)  color  of  the  United 
States,  but  return  to  its   senses,  to    republicanism  and  its 
manhood,  there  would  remain  no  reason  for  sending  a  single 
additional  settler  to  Liberia,  on  the  colonization  plan  ;  but 
every  reason,  for  cherishing  them  in  love,  in  their  native 
country  ;    and  for  making  them  all  the  amends  which  un- 
feigned repentance  would  make,  for  the   cruel  indignities 
and  wrongs  so  long  and  so  criminally  heaped  upon   them, 
the  present  cement  and  climax  of  which  is,  striving  to  get 
their  free  portion  off,  as  decently  as  possible,  to  a  foreign  and 
barbarous  land  ! 

The  settlement  of  Sierra  Leone,  cherished  the  best  feel- 
ings of  the  English  nation — sympathy  for  the  oppressed, 
and  benevolence  towards  desolate  strangers,  whom  the 
proud  world  spurned  and  persecuted. 

The  founding  of  Liberia,  cherished  the  worst  feelings  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States  ;  the  idol-sin,  which  dis- 
tinguishes them  from  all  other  civilized  people,  color  hatred, 
or  rather,  mother -hatred,  since  an  oppressed  and  outraged, 
not  guilty,  mother,  is  the  only  definite  criterion  of  it ;  color 
being  frequently  darker  amongst  the  whites  !  !  than  amongst 
the  colored  people ! 

How  strikingly,  also,  is  the  holy  faithfulness  of  Samuel 
Hopkins,  in  speaking  and  preaching,  publicly,  against  sla. 
very,  contrasted  with  the  present  colonization  coverings-up 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  75 

of  that  most  atrocious  system — and  how  afFectingly  does 
the  brotherly  respect  and  love,  which  his  letter  displays  for 
the  colored  people,  compare  with  the  slanderous  contempt 
and  abuse  of  them,  trumpeted  over  the  world  by  the  Colo- 
nization Society. 

4th.  What  are  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  two  es- 
tablishments ?  Those  of  Sierra  Leone,  we  have  seen  in 
page  60.  They  are  full  of  benignity  to  Africa  ;  not  "  by 
purchase  of  territory  " — or  "  commercial  speculation  " — or 
"  colonial  settlement  " — but  by  means  of  light  and  law  ! 
Not  a  word  is  said  to  disparage  the  poor  settlers,  in  Eng- 
land, or  to  point  out  Africa  to  them,  as  the  only  refuge  from 
British  insanity,  cruelty  and  pride. 

The  exclusive  object  of  the  American  Colonization  Society, 
"  is  to  promote  and  execute  a  plan  for  colonizing  (with 
their  consent)  the  free  people  of  color,  residing  in  our 
country,  in  Africa,  or  such  other  place  as  Congress  shall 
deem  most  expedient.  And  the  society  shall  act,  to  ef- 
fect this  object,  in  cooperation  with  the  general  govern- 
ment, and  such  of  the  states  as  may  adopt  regulations  on 
the  subject." 

As  if  "  our  country  "  were  not  the  country  of  the  free 
people  of  color,  as  much  as  ours  !  As  if  consent,  thus  obtain- 
ed, under  existing  circumstances  here,  could,  in  general,  be 
voluntary  !  As  if  a  society,  acting  in  concert  with  Nicho- 
las, of  Russia,  in  sending  the  poor  Poles  to  Siberia,  could 
be  just  and  benignant  towards  the  Poles.  As  if  a  heathen 
and  uncivilized  country,  could  be  the  place,  to  which  un- 
dissembling  love  would  send  guiltless  and  unaccused  Ameri- 
can citizens,  from  a  land,  so  glorious  in  many  respects,  as 
the  United  States  are! 

But  I  pause,  and  refer  my  readers  to  "  Jay's  Inquiry," 
thanking  God  for  such  a  timely  and  unanswerable  exposi- 
tion of  the  real  character  and  influences  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society. 

5th.  What  was  the  state  of  the  national  mind  in  Great 
Britain,  compared  with  America? 

The  English  loved  and  cherished  strangers,  irrespectively 
of  color — and  if  oppressed  or  wronged,  they  obtained  a  dou- 


76  MEMOIR    OP 

ble  share  of  sympathy.  The  suffering  people  of  color,  as 
peculiarly  outraged  and  afflicted,  were  objects  of  peculiar 
compassion  to  them.  The  hearts  of  Englishmen  were  their 
home,  even  while  colonial  guilt  made  England,  also,  a 
house  of  bondage  to  them — but  the  British  mind,  after 
writhing  for  a  while  under  the  abomination,  threw  it  finally 
and  forever  off,  as  we  have  seen  in  1772.  England  re- 
rnained  their  country,  as  it  is  the  country  of  every  man 
in  the  world,  who  flies  to  it  from  oppression.  No  white 
man  is  more  honored  there,  than  brown  men,  or  sallow,  or 
yellow  men — or  pale  men,  or  red  men  ;  or  white  haired, 
or  red  haired,  or  black  haired,  or  yellow  haired,  or  brown 
haired,  or  curly  haired,  or  long  haired  men — the  only  differ- 
ence being,  moral  character  and  conduct.  The  black  man  ; 
the  man  of  mixed  blood  ;  the  man,  whose  mother  had  been 
oppressed,  not  criminal — as  honored  and  protected  there,  as  a 
man  of  any  possible  tinge  which  a  bianco-idolater  could  fabri- 
cate, even  were  he  endowed  with  the  powers  of  creation. 

When  the  American  Colonization  Society  was  formed, 
what  was  the  United  States'  mind  ?     What  is  it  now  ? 

Full  of  color-phobia  !  The  land  is  full  of  it.  It  is  ex- 
hibited in  legislation,  in  custom  and  in  feeling.  The  man 
is  deemed  a  fool  or  a  villain  who  is  free  from  it.  It  is, 
above  all,  exhibited  in  its  perfection,  when  thorough  Coloni- 
zationists  try  to  disprove  it.  Even  the  kind  couple  with 
whom  I  am  now  boarding,  full  of  general  kindness  as  they 
are,  are  full  of  it.  "  What !  a  colored  man  to  be  equal  to 
me  !  !  me,  of  the  orthodox  blood  ;  (though  browner  than 
many  of  them  !  !)  What !  a  colored  man,  tinged  with  the 
blood  of  suffering  and  of  wrong,  endured,  not  perpetrated, 
to  be  equal  with  me  !  /"  Oh,  horrible  !  Does  not  nature 
itself,  cry  out  against  it !  !  ! 

Some  years  ago,  (not  many)  the  King  of  Persia,  hearing 
the  United  States  mentioned,  exclaimed,  "  The  United 
States  !  What  is  the  United  States  ?  Where  is  it  ?  How 
big  is  it?  Is  it  under  ground  or  above  ground?  What 
kind  of  people  inhabit  it  1  Are  they  black  or  white,  civili- 
zed or  savage  ?"  Was  the  King  of  Persia  to  be  admired  ? 
Yet  he  spoke  the  feeling  of  his  country — and  there  are 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  77 

many  more  people  in  Persia,  than  in  the  United  States  ; 
and  if  numbers  made  nature,  the  United  States  are  despica- 
ble ;  for  the  numerous  Persians  despised  them  !  !  ! 

Mungo  Park,  when  on  the  point  of  perishing,  was  com- 
passionated  by  a  poor  African,  and  generously  lodged  and 
entertained  in  his  hut.  The  African's  wife  was  terrified 
by  the  entrance  of  the  pale-faced  stranger,  and  getting 
out  of  the  door  as  fast  as  she  civilly  could,  ran  off,  scream- 
ing, "the  devil! — the  devil!"  Was  her  feeling  right? 
Yet  she  had  much  reason  to  believe  white  people  devils ; 
and  she  had  not  the  scriptures,  or  science,  or  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel,  to  teach  her  the  glorious  fact,  that  "  God 
hath  made  of  one  blood,  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  ;"  and 
that  that  poor,  unprotected,  emaciated,  unintroduced,  ex- 
cept by  his  miseries,  pale-faced  stranger,  was  her  brother, 
whom  she  was  bound  to  honor  and  to  love.  Besides,  it  is 
calculated,  that  there  are  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  mil- 
lions of  people  in  Africa,  while  there  are  only  about  twelve 
millions  of  pale-faced  ones  (or  rather  called  pale-faced  ones, 
since  they  are  of  many  colors,)  in  the  United  States,  and 
any  child  therefore,  who  understands  the  single  rule  of 
three,  can  tell,  that  Africa  has  more  than  twelve  times  a 
better  right  to  settle  what  "  nature's  "  feelings  are,  than 
the  people  of  the  United  States  have ;  and  that,  therefore, 
by  twelve  odds  to  one,  all  really  pale-faced  people  are 
devils  !  Then  surely,  abundant  means  of  knowing  better, 
do  not  render  proud  and  cruel  notions,  less  criminal  or  less 
absurd  ! 

This  color-phobia  ;  this  distinguishing  characteristic  of 
the  United  States,  from  which  all  other  civilized  people  are 
free,  was  the  precursor  and  the  source,  and  is  the  support 
of  the  Colonization  Society.  It  existed  long  before  that 
society  was  organized — but  it  was  comparatively  insulated 
in  individual  bosoms,  and  was  proportionably  feeble.  The 
Colonization  Society  is  simply,  its  embodying  and  disciplin- 
ing— and  the  difference  is,  that  it  now  has  the  power  of 
union.  "  Go  to  Africa,"  it  says  to  the  outraged  class — 
hated  and  spurned  because  they  are  outraged;  "go  to  Africa, 
and  we  will  do  all  we  can  to  make  you  happy.     But  this 

7 


78  MEMOIR    OF 

is  not  your  country — though  you  have  served  it  as  faith- 
fully ;  and  according  to  your  opportunities,  done  as  much 
for  it';  and  behaved  as  well  in  it,  all  things  fairly  consider- 
ed ;  and  when  occasion  called,  poured  out  your  blood  for 
it,  as  cheerfully  and  as  bravely,  as  we  have — yet  it  is  not 
your  country — it  is  the  while  man's  land — that  is,  it  is  the 
land  of  the  men  of  all  colors,  by  courtesy  called  white 
amongst  themselves,  who,  as  a  body,  have  always  been 
your  spurners  and  your  tyrants,  and  never  your  slaves  ! 
Off— off  to  Africa,  your  fathers'  land  ;  though  half  of  you 
have  more  orthodox  than  heterodox  Hood  in  your  veins  ;  and 
there,  in  a  comparative  wilderness,  surrounded  by  barba- 
rian despotisms,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  heathen  people,  not 
yet  gospel-hardened,  far  away  forever  from  your  native 
country,  you  may  find  a  degree  of  equity  and  kindness, 
which  in  the  United  States,  your  .native  land,  you  never 
can." 

The  national  state  of  mind  in  England,  was  and  is,  that 
of  a  brother  and  a  friend,  towards  the  free  colored  people. 
The  national  state  of  mind  towards  them,  in  the  United 
States,  was  and  is,  (except  when  their  aid  has  been  needed 
in  times  of  danger  and  emergency  ;  witness  Gen.  Jackson's 
orders  near  New  Orleans,  last  war;)  a  contemptuous  suf- 
ferance, or  a  supercilious  benignity.  "  Stand  off,"  it  says, 
"  we  are  better  than  ye.  Keep  far  enough  from  our  moon- 
colored  nobility,  and  we  will  magnanimously  suffer  you  !" 

Here  it  may  be  useful  to  remark,  that  the  color,  with  any 
propriety  called  white,  extends  not  to  one-tenth  of  the  hu- 
man family ;  and,  that  little  more  than  one-tenth  of  this 
tenth,  is  afflicted  with  the  color -'phobia*  That  is,  about  one 
person  in  a  hundred  of  the  whole  human  family,  is  subject 
to  this  cruel  disease  ;  and  then,  he,  in  his  hallucinations, 
dreams  that  his  feelings  are  the  law  of  nature  !  and  that 
whoever  does  not  feel  as  he  he  does,  is  a  fool  or  a  villain. 

But  this  cruel  and  criminal  madness,  is  beneath  the  co- 
lored nine-tenths  of  the  world — and  to  all  the  white  people 

*  The  terror  which  the  Africans  have  of  while  men,  is  rather  the  ler- 
ror  of  the  reputation  which  white  men  have  acquired  amongst  them,  of 
cannibalism,  robbery  and  murder,  than  of  color. 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  79 

in  the  world,  except  the  whites  "  of  all  colors"  in  the  United 
States,  and  a  few  hundreds  of  colonial  slave  masters  and 
slave  drivers,  is  matter  of  pity  and  abhorrence.  Proud, 
unjust  and  cruel  as  in  other  respects  they  may  be,  in  this, 
other  nations  have  not  yet  departed  so  utterly,  from  God 
and  their  poor  brother.  And  blessed  be  His  holy  name, 
this  storm  of  all  hypocritical  and  savage  iniquity  in  the 
United  States,  is  intermitting.  Far  off  to  leeward,  I  see 
the  cle? i r  blue  sky,  breaking  through  the  clouds.  A  voice 
of  love  is  loudly  sounding — a  cry  of  justice  is  echoing 
through  the  land.  Truth  is  rising  in  its  peaceful,  all  con- 
quering  might.  The  press,  is  in  a  measure,  rescued.  The 
pulpit  is  casting  off  its  shameful  fetters.  The  institutions 
of  learning  are  heaving  away  the  incubus.  Men — lovers 
of  liberty,  all  glorious,  impartial  liberty.  Republicans,  not 
with  a  lying  and  boastful  tongue  merely,  but  in  heart  and 
in  deed.  The  yeomen  peasantry  of  the  free  states,  wanting 
information  only,  to  stir  them  up  in  love  ;  as  lovers  of 'liber- 
ty, and  not  as  idolaters  of  partial  and  despotic  pride. 
White  men  ;  yes  white  men  of  the  United  States,  most  of 
them  just  cured  of  the  color-phobia,  uniting  in  a  noble  and 
rapidly  increasing  phalanx,  are  coming  up,  in  peace,  to  the 
help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty,  and  the  prospect  is 
most  cheering,  that  soon,  the  curse  of  Meroz  shall  no 
longer  lower  over  this  glorious  land. 

6th.  What  was  the  general  character  of  the  most  con- 
genial minds,  in  founding  the  two  settlements  in  question  ? 

Need  I  repeat  the  character  of  the  founder  of  Sierra 
Leone.     It  is  before  my  readers. 

But  who  were  the  founders  of  Liberia  ?  Mills,  I  cannot 
take  into  the  account,  for  he  was  not  a  colonizationist,  but 
a  missionary.  Finley,  must  be  included  ;  and  highly  in- 
teresting  as  his  character  seems  to  have  been  in  other  re- 
spects, in  this,  an  independent  and  impartial  mind,  need  only 
mark  the  frst  motive  which  he  gives  for  his  colonization 
zeal,  "  we  should  be  cleared  of  them,"  to  perceive  at  once, 
how  deeply  he  was  implicated  in  his  country's  wickedness. 
Of  Caldwell,  I  am  too  ignorant  to  speak.  And  who  were 
the  rest  ?     Most,  if  not  all,  slave  masters!     The  Virginian 


80  MEMOIR    OF 

Legislature  was  its  precursor.  Bushrod  Washington,  a 
slave  breeder  and  vender  and  holder,  presided  at  its  first 
meeting,  and  became  its  first  president.  Henry  Clay,  pro- 
claimed in  England  by  Elliot  Cresson,  as  its  champion  ; 
Henry  Clay,  who,  after  declaring,  that  "  of  all  descriptions" 
of  the  population  of  the  United  States,  "  and  of  either  por- 
tion of  the  African  race,  the  free  persons  of  color,  are  by 
far,  the  most  corrupt,  depraved  and  abandoned;"  (African 
Repository  VI.  12.)  goes  on  in  the  same  speech  to 
affirm,  that  "  the  Society  proposes  to  send  out,  not 
one  or  two  pious  members  of  Christianity  into  a  foreign 
land,  but  to  transport  annually,  for  an  indefinite  number 
of  years,  in  one  view  of  its  scheme  six  thousand,  in  another 
fifty-six  thousand  missionaries,  of  the  descendants  of 
Africa  itself,  to  communicate  the  benefits  of  our  reli- 
gion and  the  arts."  African  Repos.  VI.  24.  I  know  not 
how,  thorough  infatuation,  on  a  particular  subject,  could  be 
more  strikingly  exhibited,  than  by  a  man  of  Henry  Clay's 
giant  grasp  of  mind,  demurely  thus  reasoning,  and  then 
being  applauded  as  their  hero,  by  the  Society's  agent ! 
Evangelizing  and  civilizing  Africa,  by  yearly  deluges  of 
the  most  corrupt,  depraved  and  abandoned  people  of  the 
United  States.  What  sanity  !  What  benevolence  !  !  Of 
seventeen  vice-presidents  only  five  were  selected  from  the 
free  states — and  the  whole  of  the  twelve  managers,  as  far 
as  I  can  learn,  were  slave  holders. 

Such  were  the  materials  which  founded  Liberia.  Since 
its  foundation,  better  men  have  added  their  names  ;  and  its 
list  still  contains  many  of  them — some,  in  other  respects, 
not  surpassed  on  earth.  The  heart  which  loves  its  Saviour 
and  his  holy  cause,  and  is  not  in  bondage  to  the  same  de- 
lusion, can  only  bleed  over  the  fact ;  but  is  comforted  by 
remembering  that  deep  as  the  noblest  minds  may  fall  at 
times,  if  true  to  God,  they  shall  rise  again,  and  only  shine 
the  more  brightly,  from  the  depth  of  their  past  eclipse. 

Light  and  darkness  could  as  easily  have  become  homo- 
geneous as  Granville  Sharp,  could  have  united  with  such 
a  company.  The  portrait  of  Bushrod  Washington  taken  to 
England  by  Elliot  Cresson  to  be  placed  beside  that  of  Wm% 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  81 

Wilberforce  in  the  London  Anti  Slavery  Society's  office, 
was  refused  a  place  there  by  the  coadjutors  and  succes- 
sors of  Granville  Sharp.  The  same  fountain  does  not  send 
forth  waters  both  bitter  and  sweet—"  neither  does  the  fig 
bear  olives — nor  the  vine,  figs."  James  iii.  11, 12.  Gran- 
ville Sharp,  the  philanthropist,  (not  the  bianco-idolater) 
and  Bushrod  Washington,  or  Henry  Clay,  are  in  this  re- 
spect, at  the  uttermost  antipodes.  Where,  as  above  men- 
tioned, men  of  a  different  and  superior  stamp,  have  become 
supporters  of  the  Colonization  Society,  they  have  been  out 
of  place.  Some  of  them  have  repented  and  brought  forth 
fruits  mete  for  repentance.  Over  the  rest,  impartial  love, 
wonders  and  mourns,  looking  with  confidence,  to  their  res- 
cue at  no  distant  day,  from  their  present  thraldom. 

In  fine,  whether  we  consider  the  well  known  and  ruling 
principles  of  Granville  Sharp's  mind — or  advert  to  his  cor- 
respondence and  memoranda — whether  we  compare  Sierra 
Leone  and  Liberia,  or  contrast  their  fundamental  princi- 
ples— whether  we  contemplate  the  national  state  of  mind 
in  both  cases,  or  the  general  character  of  the  most  conge- 
nial advocates  of  either,  we  are  more  and  more  struck, 
with  the  utter  discordancy  between  the  two,  and  are  satis- 
fied that  had  our  beloved  brother  lived,  his  name  would 
have  graced  William  Wilberforce's  protest;  that  crowning 
act  of  his  life,  against  the  absurd  and  cruel  pursuit  of 
colonizationism  in  the  United  States,  whether  concentrated 
in  the  form  of  the  Colonization  Society,  or  scattered  in  its 
pristine  and  unorganized  form,  over  the  land. 

A  distinguishing  feature  of  the  colonization  mania,  may 
here  be  noticed  in  conclusion. 

Let  a  man  speak  the  truth,  of  the  insane  and  cruel  pre- 
judice against  color  in  the  United  States,  declaring  how- 
ever, that  it  is  vincible,  and  explaining  the  manly,  peaceable 
and  republican  process,  by  which  it  is  actually  undergoing 
a  glorious  change — and,  if  an  American,  he  is  a  slanderer 
of  his  country,  or  a  traitor,  or  something,  or  any  thing  else, 
which  the  color-phobia  fancies: — if  an  Englishman,  he 
£  'has  been  imported, for  the  purpose  of  vilifying  colonization" 


82  MEMOIR    OF 

or  for  some  other  purpose,  of  equally  false  and  elegant 
tissue* 

But  let  him  declare  this  brutal  prejudice,  not  brutal ;  let 
him  palm  it  upon  God,  as  the  Colonization  Society  does  in 
its  15th  Annual  Report  ;  let  him  assert  that  it  is  invincible, 
as  Jefferson  did  ;  let  him  unite  with  the  Connecticut  Colo- 
nization Society,  in  saying,  "  The  African"  (take  notice, 
most  of  them  are  Americans  all  the  while)  "  in  this  country''' 
(i.  e.  in  his  native  country)  "  belongs  by  birth  to  the  very 
lowest  station  in  society  ;  and  from  that  station,  he  can 
never  rise,  be  his  talents,  his  enterprise,  his  virtues,  what 
they  may.  They"  (the  free  negroes,  i.  e.  the/ree  Ameri- 
cans whose  unhappy  parents  or  ancestors,  suffered,  not 
committed,  the  curse  of  slavery)  "  constitute  a  class  by 
themselves ;  a  class  out  of  which  no  individual  can  be  ele- 
vated, and  below  which  none  can  be  depressed.  And  this 
is  the  difficult]/,  the  invariable  and  insuperable  difficultly, 
in  the  way  of  every  scheme  for  their  benefit.  Much  can 
be  done  for  them — much  has  been  done  for  them ;  but  still 
they  are,  and  in  this  country,  always  must  be,  a  depressed 
and  abject  race.  *  *  *  In  every  part  of  the  United 
States,  there  is  a  broad  and  impassable  line  of  demarcation 
between  every  man,  who  has  one  drop  of  African  blood  in 
his  veins,  and  every  other  class  in  the  community  ;"  to- 
gether with  the  following  words  of  the  same  address  pre- 
fixed to  the  passage  just  quoted  :  "  The  habits,  the  feelings, 
all  the  prejudices  of  society — prejudices  of  which  neither 
refinement,  nor  argument,  nor  education,  nor  religion  itself 
can  subdue,  mark  the  people  of  color'''  (note — this  should 
have  been,  the  Americans  who  had  one  drop  of  African 
blood  in  their  veins)  whether  bond  or  free,  as  the  subjects 
of  a  degradation,  inevitable  and  incurable."  Yes — let  a 
man,  thus  trumpet  the  shame  of  the  United  States  through 
the  world,  usurping  God's  place,  and  giving  them  over  to 
final  and  utter  impenitence  in  this  ferocious  and  libertine 
sin,  and  he  shall  be  a  champion — a  loyal  and  true-hearted 
man  !  ! !  What  difference  is  there  between  this,  and  the 
Hindoo,  who  reviles  and  spurns,  whoever  worships  not  his 


GRANVILLE    SHARP.  83 

juggernaut  with  him ;  but  hugs  and  applauds  his  fellow  idol- 
aters  ?  except,  that  the  poor  Hindoo,  has  no  Bible,  and 
little  comparative  civilization  ;  and  no  republican  constitution 
declaring  gloriously,  that  all  men  are  created  free  and  equal, 
and  are  endowed  by  their  Creator,  with  certain  inalienable 
rights,  amongst  which  are  "life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness"  to  stimulate  or  secure  his  integrity,  if  upright; 
or,  if  a  renegado  from  his  principles,  to  leave  him  without 
a  cloak  for  his  guilt. 

And  that  the  extent  and  malignity  of  the  ground- work, 
of  this  feeling  may  not  rest  upon  an  adversary's  report,  look 
at  the  description  given  by  the  friends  of  the  Colonization 
Society,  of  the  particular  species  of  slavery  on  which  the 
prejudice  above  adverted  to  arose,  and  by  which  it  is  still 
nourished. 

"  On  the  subject  of  slavery,  we  must  express  ourselves 
briefly,  yet  boldly.  We  have  heard  of  slavery  as  it  exists 
in  Asia  and  Africa  and  Turkey — we  have  heard  of  the 
feudal  slavery  under  which  the  peasantry  of  Europe  have 
groaned  from  the  days  of  Alaric  until  now;  but  excepting 
only,  the  horrible  system  of  the  West  India  Islands,  we  have 
never  heard  of  slavery  in  any  country,  ancient  or  modern, 
pagan,  mahomedan,  or  christian!  so  terrible  in  its  char- 
acter, so  pernicious  in  its  tendency,  so  remediless  in  its  an- 
ticipated results,  as  the  slavery  which  exists  in  these  United 
States."     7th  Report,  Amer.  Col.  Soc.  1824. 

But — blessed  be  God  !  Dagons  greater  than  this,  and 
than  the  ferocious  prejudice,  the  color-phobia,  in  the  United 
States,  which  is  its  offspring  have  fallen  before  the  ark  of 
the  Lord — and  shall  fall  again — and  this  shall  fall !  Truth 
is  great  and  must  prevail — we  "  can  do  all  things,  through 
Christ  who  strengtheneth"  us  :  and  if  we  prove  unfaithful ; 
if  daunted  by  the  fear,  or  allured  by  the  favor  of  man  ;  if 
drawn  aside  by  our  own  corruptions,  or  swept  away  by  the 
awakened  wrath  of  the  enemies  of  equity  and  peace,  let 
loose  upon  us — God  will  not  want  other  and  better  instru- 
ments, and  provided  there  be  "glory  to  him  in  the  highest — 
and  on  earth,  peace,  good  will  to  man" — to  the  poor  man, 


84  MEMOIR    OF    GRANVILLE    SHARP. 

as  well  as  to  the  rich  man ! — to  the  ignorant  man,  as  well 
as  to  the  learned  man  ! — to  the  black  man,  and  to  men  of 
all  colors,  as  well  as  to  the  white  man  ! — to  the  stranger, 
as  well  as  to  the  citizen  ! — to  the  poor  sufferer  of  wrong, 
delivered  from  outrage,  as  well  as  to  the  perpetrator  of 
wrong,  brought  to  repentance  !  our  work  will  be  accom- 
plished, and  our  heart's  desire  fulfilled. 


APPENDIX 


NO.  1. 


In  Sharp's  tract,  on  "the  injustice  and  dangerous  tendency  of 
tolerating  slavery,"  published  in  London,  by  Benjamin  White,  Fleet- 
street,  1769,  after  quoting  York  and  Talbot's  opinion  of  Jan.  14, 
1729,  he  states,  that  thirty  years  prior  to  this  opinion,  in  the  case  of  Gall- 
way  versus  Caddee,  before  Baron  Thompson,  at  Guildhall,  the  slave  was 
judged  to  be  free,  "from,  his  first  setting  foot  on  English  ground." 

He  records  a  similar  judgment  in  1732,  in  the  case  of  De  Penna,  &c. 
versus  Henriquez  ;  and  Lord  Chief  Justice  Holt's  prior  decision,  "that 
as  soon  as  a  negro  comes  into  England,  he  becomes  free" — "one  may 
be  a  villain  in  England,  but  not  a  slave." 

He  cites  the  following  glorious  principles  of  law. 

"The  law  favors  liberty."  Wood's  Inst.  B.  1,  c.  1,  p.  25.  Coke's 
1st  Inst.  B.  124,  and  2d  Inst.  42,  115. 

"  The  law  favoreth  a  man's  person  before  his  possessions."  No  yes' 
Maxims,  p.  6  and  7. 

"Quoties  dubia  interpretatio  libertatis  est,  secundum  libertatem  re- 
spondendum." Digest.  Lib.  50,  Tit.  17,  Leg.  20.  Whenever  the  ques- 
tion of  liberty  seems  doubtful,  the  decision  must  be  in  favor  of  liberty. 

"The  inferior  law  must  give  place  to  the  superior — man's  laws  to 
God's  laws."  Noye's  Maxims.  If,  therefore,  any  statute  be  enacted 
contrary  to  these,  it  ought  to  be  considered  of  no  authority  in  the  laws 
of  England.  Etiam  si  aliquod  statutum  esse  editum  contra  eas  (that  is 
against  the  laws  of  God)  nullius  vigoris,  in  legibus^Angliee,  censeri  debet. 
(Pages  55,  56,  of  another  tract,  entitled  "Just  limitation  of  slavery.") 

"Usage  and  custom,  generally  received,  have  the  force  of  law."  Hale's 
History  of  Common  Law,  p.  65. 

"  Quia  consuetudo,  ex  certa  causa  rationabile  usitata,  privat  commu- 
nem  legem ;"  because  custom,  derived  from  a  certain  reasonable  cause, 
takes  the  place  of  law.    Littleton,  Lib,  2,  c.  10,  sec.  149, 


86  APPENDIX. 

But  "consuetudo,  contra  rationem  introducta,  potius  usurpatio,  quam 
consuetudo,  appellari  debet."  When  custom  is  adopted  without  reason, 
it  ought  rather  to  be  called  usurpation  than  custom. 

"  Quia,  in  consuetudinibus,  non  diuturnitas  temporis,  sed  soliditas  ra- 
tionis,  est  consideranda."  Because  in  judging  of  customs,  strength  of 
reason  is  to  be  considered,  and  not  length  of  time.  The  reason  which 
supports  them  ought  to  be  regarded,  and  not  the  length  of  time,  during 
which  they  have  prevailed. 

Two  incidents  are  indispensable  to  validity  of  custom  or  usage  : 

1st.  A  reasonable  commencement  (for  all  customs  or  prescriptions 
which  are  against  reason,  are  void.)    2d  Inst.  p.  140. 

2d.  Continuance  without  interruption. 

"Malus  usus  abolendus  est."  Evil  customs  ought  to  be  abolished. 
Littleton,  2  Inst.  c.  2,  p.  141.  On  which  Sir  Edward  Coke  remarks,  that 
"  every  use  (or  custom)  is  evil,  which  is  against  reason — because,  as 
above,  "  in  consutuedinibus,  non  diuturnitas  temporis,  sed  soliditas  ra- 
tionis,  est  consideranda." 

"Debile  fundamentum,  fallit  opus."  Noyes'  Maxims,  p.  5.  Where 
the  foundation  is  weak,  the  structure  falls. 

"  Quod  ab  initio  non  valet,  in  tractu  temporis,  non  convalescit."  Noyes' 
Maxims,  p.  4.  What  is  invalid  from  the  beginning,  cannot  be  made 
valid  by  length  of  time. 

"  Derivata  potestas,  non  potest  esse  major  primitiva."  Derived  power, 
cannot  be  superior  to  the  power  from  which  it  is  derived.  Noyes' 
Maxims,  p.  3. 

Before  any  contract  can  be  valid,  the  civil  law  requires  three  conditions 
as  indispensable : 

1st.  That  the  parties  contracting  should  have  a  legal  capacity. 

2d.  They  must  be  willing  to  contract — because  "  In  ea,  quae  exduorum 
pluriumve  consensu  agitur,  omnium  voluntas  spectitur."  In  those  things 
which  relate  to  the  consent  of  two  or  more,  the  will  of  every  one  is  re- 
garded. And  again,  "In  conventionibus,  contrabentiumvoluntatem,  potiug 
quam  verba,  spectare  placuit."  Digest,  xliv.  vii.  31,  and  1.  xvi.  219.  In 
every  agreement,  the  will  rather  than  the  words  of  the  contracting  parties 
is  to  be  regarded. 

3d.  The  parties  must  have  liberty— for  "  Nil  consensui  tarn  contrarium 
est,  quam  vis  atque  metus;  quem  comprobare,  contra  bonos  mores  est." 
Nothing  is  so  discordant  with  consent,  as  force  and  fear — it  is  a  crime 
against  the  good  of  society,  to  approve  of  them."  Digest.  1.  xvii.  116. 
Yet  "  vani  timoris,  justa  excusatio,  non  est;"  unreasonable  fear,  is  not  a 
sufficient  excuse ;  1.  xvii.  184 ;  but,   "  Vis  est,  majoris  rei  impetus,  quod 


APPENDIX.  ~        87 


•* 


repelli  non  potest ;"  force  consists  in  such  a  power  as  you  cannot  resist. 

"  Servitus  est  constitutio  juris  gentium,  qua,  quis,  domino  alieno,  contra 
naturam  subjicitur."  Inst.  Lib.  1,  Tit.  3.  Leg.  2.  Slavery  is  a  regula- 
tion of  the  law  of  nations,  by  which  any  body,  is  unnaturally  subjected 
to  the  dominion  of  another. 

"Crudelis  etiam  necessario  judicabitur  lex  quae  servitutem  augmentat, 
et  minuit  libertatem :  nam  pro  ea,  natura  semper  implorat  humana. 
Quia,  ab  homine  pro  vitio  introducta  est  servitus.  Sed  libertas,  a  Deo, 
hominis  est  indita  natura.  Quare  ipsa  ab  homine  subiata,  semper  redire 
gliscit,  ut  facit  omne  quod  libertati  naturali  privatur.  Quo  impius  et 
crudelis  judicandus  est  qui  libertati  non  favet.  Hac  considerantia,  Angliae 
jura,  in  omni  casu,  libertati  dant  favorem."  Chancellor  Fortescue,  De 
laudibus  Legum.  c.  42,  p.  101.  The  law  therefore,  which  supports  sla- 
very, and  opposes  liberty,  must  necessarily  be  condemned  as  cruel :  for 
every  feeling  of  human  nature  advocates  liberty.  Slavery  is  introduced 
through  human  wickedness ;  but  God  advocates  liberty  by  the  nature 
which  he  has  given  to  man.  Wherefore,  liberty  torn  from  man,  always 
seeks  to  return  to  him ;  and  it  is  the  same  with  every  thing,  which  is  dc- 
deprived  of  its  native  freedom.  On  this  account  it  is,  that  the  man  who 
does  not  favor  liberty,  must  be  regarded  as  impious  and  cruel ;  and 
hence  the  English  law  always  favors  liberty. 

"Ratio  legis,  est  animus  legis."     The  resonableness  of  the  law,  is  the 
soul  of  the  law.     Jenks'  Cent.  45. 

"  Scribitur  heec  lex  in  corde  cujuslibet  hominis,  docens  eum  quid 
agendum,  et  quid  ugiendum  :  et  quod  rationis,  in  corde  scribitur,  idio  de- 
leri  non  potest,  nee  enim  recepit  mutationem  ex  loco  nee  tempore,  sed 
ubique  et  inter  omnes  homines,  servari  debet.  Nam  jura  naturalia,  im~ 
mutabilia  sunt ;  et  ratio  immutationis,  est  quod  recipiunt  naturam  rei  pro 
fundamenta,  quae  semper  eadem  est,  et  ubique."  Doct.  and  Stud.,  c.  2. 
This  law  is  written  upon  the  heart  of  every  man,  teaching  him  what  to 
choose  and  what  to  refuse.  What  is  written  by  reason  in  the  heart,  can- 
not be  effaced ;  neither  is  it  liable  to  change  from  either  place  or  time,  but 
ought  to  be  preserved  every  where  by  all  men.  For  the  laws  of  nature 
are  immutable ;  and  the  reason  of  their  immutability  is  this,  that  they 
have  for  their  foundation,  the  nature  of  things,  which  is  always  and 
every  where  the  same. 

"Contra  earn  non  est  prsescriptio  vel  oppositum  statutum,  sive  con- 
suetudo,  et  si  aliqua  fiant,  non  sunt  statuta,  sive  consuetudines,  sed  cor- 
ruptela."  Doct.  and  Stud.  B.  5.  Against  this  there  is  no  prescription 
or  statute,  or  usage ;   and  should  any  be  enacted,  they  would  not  be 

statutes,  or  usages,  but  corrupt  customs. 


88  APPENDIX. 

Quia  ilia  potestas,  (juris)  solius  Dei  est ;  potestas  autem  injuriae/diaboli,  et 
non  Dei ;  et  cujus  horum  opera  fecerit  rex,  ejus  minister  erit,  cujus  opera 
fecerit  (Rom.  vi.  16.)  Igitur  dum  facit  justitiam,  vicarius  est  Regis  Eter- 
ni ;  minister  autem  diaboli,  dum  declinat  ad  injuria  m."  Brae  ton.  Lib.  3, 
c.  9,  p.  106-7.  The  lawful  power  is  from  God  alone  ;  but  the  power  of 
wrong,  is  from  the  devil  and  not  from  God  ;  and  whosesoever  work  a  king 
shall  do,  his  servant  he  is,  whose  work  he  does.  Wherefore,  when  he 
does  justice,  he  is  the  minister  of  the  Eternal  King — but  when  he  does 
unrighteousness,  he  is  the  servant  of  the  devil.  "  Dicitur  enim  rex,  a 
bene  regendo,  et  non  a  regnando  ;  quia  rex  est  dum  bene  regit.  Tyrannus, 
dum  populum  sibi  creditum,  violenta  opprimet  dominatione."  Ibid.  For 
he  is  called  a  king  (ruler)  for  ruling  righteously,  and  not  because  he 
reigns.  Wherefore,  he  is  a  king,  when  he  governs  with  justice — but  a 
tyrant,  when  he  oppresses  the  people  committed  to  his  charge. 

"  For  though  custom,  tribute,  fear  and  honor,  are  certainly  due  to  him, 
who  is  the  minister  of  God  to  us  for  good;  yet  surely  no  honor  is  due, 
or  ought  to  be  rendered  to  the  minister  of  the  devil ;  to  the  perjured  violator 
of  a  public  trust,  who  in  the  eye  of  the  English  law,  is  not  even  worthy 
of  so  much  as  the  name  of  a  king."  Granville  Sharp's  "  Law  of  passive 
obedience,"  p.  75. 

"All  men  therefore,  be  they  ever  so  rich,  or  ever  so  poor  and  mean, 
are  required  to  vindicate  the  cause  of  truth,  justice  and  righteousness, 
whenever'  they  have  a  favorable  opportunity  of  doing  so  ;"  p.  89.  "  An 
hereditary  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  is  a  talent  committed  to  all  men, 
for  the  use  or  abuse  of  which  therefore,  all  are  accountable  in  exact  pro- 
portion to  the  extent  of  the  gift ;"  p.  89,  90.  "  The  hasty  revenger  of  his 
own  cause,  is  so  far  from  being  a  friend  to  the  community,  or  a  lover  of 
liberty,  that  he  himself,  is  actually  a  tyrant ;  because  he  neglects  the  ne- 
cessary doctrine  of  christian  submission  to  personal  injuries ;  and  is 
ready  to  revenge  his  own  cause,  with  his  own  hand,  and  to  usurp  all  the 
distinct  offices  of  Judge,  Jury  and  Executioner.  He  is  so  far  irom  vin- 
dicating the  law,  like  the  generous  and  patriotic  apostle,  for  the  sake  of 
national  liberty,  that  he  manifestly  sets  himself  up  above  the  law, 
(which  is  the  first  characteristic  of  a  tyrant)  and  thereby  renders  himself, 
in  fact,  an  open  enemy  to  liberty,  and  consequently  a  disgrace  to  so- 
ciety;"  ibid. 

"  When  they  (men)  are  freest  they  have  limits,  for  they  are  not  infinite ; 
nay,  when  they  are  most  free,  they  are  most  bound  to  good  order  and  to 
right  reason."     Sadler's  Rights,  p.  135. 

And  in  Blackstone's  Commentaries,  Chitty's  edition,  1826,  we  read  : 

"The  law  of  nature,  being  coeval  with  mankind,  and  dictated  by  God 


APPENDIX.  89 

himself,  is  of  course  superior  in  obligation  to  any  other.  It  is  binding 
over  all  the  globe ;  in  all  countries,  and  at  all  times.  No  human  laws 
have  any  validity,  if  contrary  to  this;  and  such  of  them  as  are  valid,  de- 
rive all  their  force  and  all  their  authority,  mediately  or  immediately  from 
this  original."  And  again,  "  Those  rights  which  God  and  nature  have 
established,  and  which  are  therefore  called  '  natural  rights,'  such  as  life 
and  liberty,  need  not  the  aid  of  human  laws,  to  be  more  effectually  vest- 
ed in  every  man,  than  they  are.  Neither  do  they  receive  any  additional 
strength,  when  declared  by  the  municipal  laws  to  be  inviolable.  On  the 
contrary,  no  human  legislation  has  power  to  abridge  or  destroy  them, 
unless  the  owner  shall  himself  commit  some  act,  that  amounts  to  forfei- 
ture."   Introduction,  Section  2. 

"  Law  favoreth  life,  liberty  and  dower.  Law  regards  the  person  above 
his  possessions — life  and  liberty  most,"  &c.  Principia  Legis  and  Equi- 
tatis,  p.  56. 

Such  are  the  glorious  foundations  of  British,  eternal  and  universal 
law.  Such  are  the  principles  which,  without  partiality  and  without 
hypocrisy,  yield  "glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth,  peace,  good 
will,  to  man."  Such  are  the  principles,  which  an  American,  cast  away 
upon  the  shores  of  Morocco,  would  wish  to  find  prevailing  there.  Such 
are  the  principles,  without  which,  all  boasts  of  liberty,  are  but  a  lie;  a 
triumph  of  licentiousness  over  freedom ;  the  boast  of  the  strong,  and  the 
bane  of  the  weak  !  Such  are  the  principles,  the  universal  prevalence  of 
which,  would  make  the  world  a  moral  Eden — the  rejection  of  which, 
keeps  it  a  little  hell ;  especially  where  freemen  hold  slaves  ;  for  of  all  go- 
vernments, an  oligarchy  is  the  worst.  It  consists  of  a  hundred,  or  a 
thousand,  or  ten  thousand  tyrants,  instead  of  one.  It  is  "  diffusing  ty- 
ranny every  where."  It  is  "  bringing  despotism  home  to  every  man's 
door."  It  involves  the  greatest  deliberateness  and  desperation  of  iniquity, 
both  with  law  aad  without  law,  which  it  is  possible  for  power  to  perpe- 
trate against  weakness.  And  this  enormous  concatenation  of  all  pos- 
sible wickedness,  is  at  its  climax,  when  the  oligarchs,  the  petty  despots, 
the  plantation  tyrants  most  boast  of  freedom  ! !  Witness  Sparta  and 
Athens,  and  republican  Rome,  in  ancient  times — in  modern,  witness  the 
colonies  of  France,  Holland  and  England.  At  this  moment,  see  especial- 
ly the  United  States ;  and  at  their  apex,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Ala- 
bama, Missisippi  and  Louisiana. 

NO.   2. 

In  the  year  1824,  a  little  band  of  refugee  slaves,  that  is,  of  guiltless 
British  subjects,  who  had  fled  in  peace,  from  the  the  most  iniquitous 

8 


90  APPENDIX. 

and  galling  oppression,  was  discovered  in  the  woody  mountains  of  Tie- 
lawny,  in  Jamaica ;  their  number  was  nine  men,  eight  women,  and  four 
children. 

It  appears  that  several  years  had  elapsed,  since  the  frst  of  them  had 
found  shelter  in  those  wild  mountain  glens,  and  that  from  time  to  time, 
one  and  another  had  been  providentially  added  to  their  number.  The 
evidence  from  which  this  account  is  taken,  is  that  of  their  enemies,  the 
slave  gazettes  of  the  isiand.  They  are  accused  of  no  crime,  except  the 
act  of  fiy'ing  from  oppression— -fabricated,  against  all  righteousness  into 
a  crime,  by  the  mischief-making  laws  (Psalms  xciv.  20—22.)  of  the  ne- 
farious slave-code.  They  seem  to  have  lived  soberly,  industriously  and 
affectionately  together,  hurting  no  one,  unknown  to  the  world,  and  all 
their  wish,  to  remain  unknoicn.  They  had  cleared,  of  its  heavy  timber, 
and  cultivated  (part  of  it  to  great  perfection,)  about  two  hundred  acres. 
They  had  t:  pigs  and  poultry,"  and  were  well  supplied  with  clothing ;  for 
they  sold  or  bartered  their  surplus  productions,  which  were  considerable, 
through  their  friends,  amongst  the  slaves  of  the  neighboring  plantations; 
thus  conducing  to  supply  their  vicinity  with  cheap  and  wholesome  food. 
They  had  built  a  little  village,  containing  a  kind  of  council  or  meeting 
house  of  hewrn  cedar,  and  they  called  it  "  We  no  sen',  you  no  come." 
The  slave  gazettes  scoff  at  this  title.  To  me,  it  is  one  of  the  most  ap- 
propriate and  affecting  that  my  imagination  could  conceive.  "  We  no 
sen',  you  no  come" — as  if  they  had  said,  "While  we  can  remain  conceal- 
ed from  you,  white  men,  slave  masters,  you  will  not  come  like  the  hur- 
ricane, to  sweep  us  to  death — we  know  yon,  white  men,  slave  masters  ; 
our  only  safety  from  you  is  concealment — if  discovered,  we  are  lost !" 
Such  was  the  title  which  nature,  writhing  under  recent  outrage  and  with 
danger  of  death,  growling  all  round,  had  taught  them  !  How  fearful  and 
odious  was  the  truth  of  the  lesson  ! 

In  1804,  they  were  discovered.  The  white  men  came — their  fields  were 
destroyed — their  village  was  burnt — and  they  were  hunted  to  death  or  to 
bondage!!!  Where  is  the  man,  with  a  man's  heart,  who  would  not 
have  died  with  them,  a  thousand  times  rather  than  to  have  partaken  of 
crowns  of  tyrant  glory,  or  of  mines  of  slaveholders'  wealth,  by  aiding  to 
verify  the  soul-moving  title  of  their  harmless  hamlet,  "  We  no  sen',  you 


no  come." 


NO.  3. 

Sierra  Leone  has  now  (1835)  been  in  operation  nearly  fifty  years  (from 
1767.)  It  has  been  in  a  flourishing  condition  about  thirty  years.  Prior 
to  the  formation  of  "  The  African  Institution,"  in  1807,  the  Sierra  Leone 


APPENDIX.  91 

Company  had  "  ascertained  the  power  of  introducing  agriculture,  friendly 
commerce  and  freedom  itself  into  Africa.  It  had  shown  that  all  the 
various  natural  products  brought  from  the  West  Indies,  might  be  raised 
on  the  African  soil ;  that  the  native  chiefs  might  be  made  to  perceive  the 
full  interests  of  peaceful  communication;  and  that  negroes  in  a  state  of 
freedom,  might  be  habituated  to  labor  in  the  fields,  and  were  capable  of 
being  governed  by  mild  laws,  without  whips,  tortures  or  chains  to  enforce 
submission  to  civil  authority."  Twenty  years  have  elapsed,  since  the 
proof  has  been  complete,  that  native  Africans  or  negroes,  do  not  need 
even  an  hour's  drilling  by  slavery,  to  prepare  them  for  liberty ;  since^ 
from  the  moment,  that  they  are  landed  from  the  slave  ships,  and  placed 
under  the  protection  and  coercion  of  the  equitable  laws  of  the  settlement, 
their  behaviour  has  always  been,  as  a  body,  singularly  inoffensive,  sub- 
missive and  affectionate;  and  their  industry,  equal  to  any  thing  which 
could  have  been  expected  from  any  body  of  men  in  their  circumstances. 
Of  this,  upwards  of  twenty  thousand,  are  the  living  evidences.  Nearly 
twenty  years  have  elapsed,  since  they  have  had  Christian  missionaries 
amongst  them,  of  the  noblest  stamp,  who  have  lived  and  died  for  them, 
and  some  of  whose  services  have  been  eminently  blessed.  And  both  the 
local  and  national  governments  have  beenfull  of  law  and  of  regulation* 
and  exertion  against  the  African  slave  trade.  Yet,  it  has  been  recently 
ascertained,  that  Sierra  Leone  itself  has  been  (clandestinely  indeed,  yet 
to  an  extent  almost  incredible  to  those  who  have  not  explored  the  evi- 
dence) a  nursery  for  the  African  slave  trade  ;  and  it  is  a  simple  fact,  of 
which  none  need  be  ignorant,  that  the  missionary  influence  of  Sierra 
Leone,  upon  Africa — Yes,  even  upon  the  immediately  adjoining  dis- 
tricts of  Africa,  up  to  this  day,  is  next  to  nothing ! ! 

What  sanity  then,  is  there  in  expecting  that  Liberia,  or  that  any  other, 
not  strictly  speaking  missionary  settlement  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  shall 
be  of  a  higher  character,  or  exercise  a  happier  influence  while  slavery  re- 
mains !  except  indeed  there  be  sense  in  the  colonization  logic,  viz.  either, 
that  transporting  annually  thousands  or  tens  of  thousands  of  "  the  most 
corrupt,  depraved  and  abandoned  people  of  the  United  States,"  as  colo- 
nizationists  call  them,  to  Liberia,  will  civilize  Africa ! !  or,  that  making  a 
careful  selection,  from  this  reputed  mass  of  corruption,  for  the  sake  of  Af- 
rica, and  consequently  sending  away  only  one  in  a  hundred  or  less,  the 
whole  mass  will  be  eventually  removed,  and  thus  disgorge  the  United 
States  of  the  outraged  class,  which  the  color-phobiasts  nauseate.  This 
subject  may  afford  edification  perhaps  to  young  moralists  and  mathe- 
maticians by  being  offered  to  their  notice  in  the  following  form. 


92 


.APPENDIX. 


QUESTION'S    FOR   EXERCISE   AT   LEISURE    HOURS. 

1.  How  long  will  it  take  an  individual  or  a  nation  to  conquer  preju- 
dices, by  continuing  to  practice  and  excuse  them ;— substituting  general 
acknowledgements  of  their  guilt,  for  immediately  and  thoroughly  repu- 
diating them  ? 

2.  How  long  will  it  take  to  civilize  an  uncultivated  people,  by  deluging 
them,  with  myriads  of  the  most  corrupt,  depraved  and  abandoned  inhab- 
itants of  a  civilized  state1? 

3.  How  long  will  it  take  to  christianize  heathen  nations,  by  sending 
the  most  corrupt,  depraved  and  abandoned  people  of  the  United  States, 
as  missionaries  to  them  ? 

4.  If  instruction  be  requisite  in  order  to  prepare  the  enslaved  Americans 
for  benefiting  Africa ;  and  if  the  slave  laws,  generally  render  their  instruc- 
tion impossible,  while  they  remain  slaves,  how  long  will  it  take  to  pre- 
pare them,  they  remaining  slaves? 

5.  How  long  will  it  take  to  remove  between  two  and  three  millions  of 
Americans  to  Africa,  said  to  be  the  most  corrupt  as  a  body  of  all  others, 
by  making  a  careful  selection  before  they  are  removed,  and  sending  those 
only,  who  seem  to  be  well  qualified  to  benefit  Africa? — or,  in  other 
words,  how  long  will  it  take  to  clear  away  a  forest  of  noxious  plants,  by 
removing  only,  the  few  healthful  shrubs  which  adorn  it? 

6.  How  long  will  it  take  to  remove  to  Africa,  say,  2,500,000  Americans, 
with  their  annual  increase  of  60.000,  by  sending  away  a  few  hundreds  or 
thousands  yearly  ? — or,  if  a  society  remove  3000  Americans  to  Africa  in 
ten  years,  how  many  years  will  it  take  the  same  society  to  remove 
2,500,000  increasing  annually  at  the  rate  of  60,000  ] 

7.  If,  out  of  a  vast  multitude  of  corrupt  depraved  and  abandoned  peo- 
ple as  they  are  reported,  the  few  hundreds  or  thousands  only  are  removed, 
who  are  really  of  a  superior  stamp,  how  will  the  separation  be  effected 
which  is  said  to  be  indispensable  to  the  prosperity  of  the  United  States? 

8.  If  the  good  go,  and  the  bad  onlyremmn,  how  will  the  United  States 
be  benefited  ? 

9.  If  the  bad  also,  who  are  said  to  be  the  vast  majority,  be  sent  to  Af- 
rica, how  will  Africa  be  benefited  ? — or,  can  we  sanely  expect,  that  an 
uncivilized  and  heathen  people  will  be  disposed  to  deal  with  them  more 
justly,  or  be  able  to  manage  them  more  easily,  than  the  civilized  and  en- 
lightened people  of  the  United  States  ? 

10.  If  benevolence  to  Africa  be  our  motive,  can  we  send  the  icorst  part 
of  our  population  thither? 

11.  If  benevolence  to  ourselves  bo  our  motive,  can  we  send  away  the 


APPENDIX.  93 

best  of  that  worst  part,  leaving  the  worst  without  any  leaven  of  good,  to 
putrify  and  rankle  amongst  us  ? 

12.  If  benevolence  to  that  worst  part,  be  our  motive,  can  we  send  them 
away  from  our  liberty,  and  our  light,  and  our  laws,  and  our  power,  and 
our  benevolence,  to  a  foreign  uncivilized  and  heathen  land  1 

13.  If  gratification  of  prejudice  be  our  motive,  how  much  better  is  it,  to 
yield  to  prejudice  than  to  crucify  it  ? — to  flatter,  than  to  give  it  no  quarter '? 

14.  If  it  be  true,  that  every  sinner  must  repent  or  perish,  what  must 
be  the  fate  of  those  who  strive  to  put  away  the  annoyance  produced  by 
an  evil,  without  repenting  of  the  sin  which  produces  it  ? 

AGAIN. 

15.  How  long  will  it  take  to  abolish  the  slave  trade,  while  slavery,  its 
always  prolific  source  and  its  giant  support,  keeps  up  the  demand  for 
slaves. 

16.  What  eountry  has  ever  got  rid  of  trading  in  slaves,  prior  to  the 
abolition  of  slavery  1 

17.  What  country  has  ever  abolished  the  foreign  slave  trade,  without 
substituting  an  internal  slave  trade,  and  without  continuing  to  traffic  in- 
ternally in  slaves,  as  long  as  slavery  lasted? 


8- 


THE    LAW 


OF 


PASSIVE  OBEDIENCE; 


OR 


CHRISTIAN  SUBMISSION  TO  PERSONAL  INJURIES  : 

WHEREIN  IS  SHOWN,  THAT  THE  SEVERAL  TEXTS  OF  SCRIPTURE,  WHICH 
COMMAND  THE  ENTIRE  SUBMISSION  OF  SERVANTS  OR  SLAVES  TO  THEIR 
MASTERS,  CANNOT  AUTHORIZE  THE  LATTER  TO  EXACT  AN  INVOLUNTA- 
RY SERVITUDE,  NOR,  IN  THE  LEAST  DEGREE,  JUSTIFY  THE  CLACKS  OF 
MODERN  SLAVEHOLDERS. 


BY  GRANVILLE  SHARP. 


"  Servants,  obey  in  all  things  (your)  masters,  according  to  the  flesh: 
not  with  eye  service,  as  men  pleasers,  but  in  singleness  of  heart,  fear- 
ing God;"  &c. — Colcss.  iii.  22. 


PUBLISHED  IN  LONDON  IN  THE  YEAE  1776. 


THE 


LAW  OF  PASSIVE  OBEDIENCE. 


The  illegality  of  slavery  among  Christians  is  a  point 
which  I  have  long  laboured  to  demonstrate,  as  being  de- 
structive of  morality,  and  consequently  dangerous  both  to 
body  and  soul.  There  are  nevertheless  some  particu- 
lar texts  in  the  New  Testament,  which,  in  the  opinion  of 
several  well  meaning  and  disinterested  persons,  seem  to 
afford  some  proof  of  the  toleration  of  slavery  among  the 
primitive  Christians  ;  and,  from  thence,  they  are  induced 
to  conceive,  that  Christianity  doth  not  oblige  its  professors. 
to  renounce  the  practice  of  slaveholding. 

A  learned  and  reverend  correspondent  of  mine  seems  to 
have  adopted  this  notion,  and  has  signified  his  opinion 
nearly  to  the  same  effect,  in  a  private  letter  to  me  on  this 
subject,  to  which  I  have  not  yet  ventured  to  send  him  a 
reply,  though  it  is  a  considerable  time  since  I  received  his 
letter  ;  but,  to  say  the  truth,  the  question  in  which  I  had 
never  before  apprehended  any  difficulty,  was  rendered  very 
serious  and  important,  upon  my  hands,  by  my  friend's  de- 
claration ;  and  1  thought  myself  bound  to  give  it  the  strict- 
est examination,  because  I  conceived  (as  I  do  still)  that 
the  honour  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  of  all  other 
things,  I  have  most  at  heart,  was  concerned  in  the  deter- 
mination of-  the  point  in  question  ;  and  yet  I  know,  that 
my  friend  is  full  as  zealous  for  the  honour  of  the  Scriptures 
as  myself,  and  much  more  learned  in  them,  being  very 
eminent  in  that  most  essential  branch  of  knowledge. 


98  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

I  believe  also  that  he  is  perfectly  disinterested,  and  of 
undoubted  Christian  benevolence.  The  objection  has 
therefore  acquired  an  accumulated  weight  from  the  autho- 
rity and  worth  of  the  person  who  made  it ;  and  conse- 
quently, it  demanded  more  circumspection  and  reading,  to 
answer  it  in  any  reasonable  time,  than  my  short  broken 
intervals  of  leisure  (the  only  time  that  I  was  then  master 
ot)  would  permit  me  to  bestow  upon  it ;  and  as  so  much 
time  has  already  elapsed,  the  answer  which  I  originally 
intended  for  my  friend's  private  perusal,  shall  now  be  ad- 
dressed to  all  well  meaning  persons  in  general,  who  may 
have  had  the  same  motives  for  admitting  in  any  degree  the 
legality  of  slavery  ;  and  that  there  are  many  such  (even 
among  those  that  are  concerned  in  the  practice  of  slave- 
holding)  the  example  of  my  disinterested  friend's  opinion, 
and  common  charity,  oblige  me  to  suppose.  I  shall  there- 
fore consider  my  friend's  opinion  as  the  common  excuse  of 
our  American  and  West  Indian  brethren  for  tolerating 
slavery  among  them. 

"  I  do  not  think  (says  he)  that  Christianity  released 
slaves  from  the  obligation  they  were  under  according  to 
the  custom  and  law  of  the  countries,  where  it  was  pro- 
pagated." 

This  objection  to  my  general  doctrine  is  expressed  in 
the  most  guarded  terms ; — so  guarded,  that  it  obliges  me 
to  acknowledge,  that  the  observation  is,  in  some  respects, 
strictly  true.  My  present  attempt  is  not  to  confute,  but 
rather  to  demonstrate  wherein  this  truth  consists,  which 
will  afterwards  enable  me  to  point  out  such  a  due  limita. 
tion  of  the  doctrine,  as  will  render  it  entirely  inconsistent 
with  the  hypothesis,  which  I  have  so  long  laboured  to 
maintain,  viz :  the  absolute  illegality  of  slavery  among 
Christians. 

\n  conformity  to  my  worthy  friend's  declaration  I  must 
first  observe,  that  the  disciples  of  Christ  (whose  kingdom 
he  himself  declared — "  is  not  of  this  world."  John  xviii. 
36,)  had  no  express  commission  to  alter  the  temporal  con* 
dition  of  men,  but  only  to  prepare  them  for  a  better  world 
by  the  general  doctrine  of  faith,  hope,  charity,  peace  and 


LAW    OP    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE.  99 

good  will,  (or  universal  love  and  benevolence  to  all  man- 
kind)  submission  to  injuries,  dependence  upon  God,  &c. 
which — though  general  doctrines — are  amply  and  suffi- 
ciently efficacious  indeed,  for  the  particular  reformation  of 
all  conditions  of  men,  when  sincerity  is  not  wanting  in  the 
application  of  them  ;  but  the  principal  intention  of  the  whole 
system  is  evidently  to  draw  men  from  the  cares  and  anxie- 
ties of  this  present  life,  to  a  better  hope  in  the  life  to  come, 
which  is  Christ's  proper  kingdom  :  Christian  servants,  there- 
fore, were  of  course  instructed  to  be  patient,  to  be  humble 
and  submissive  to  their  masters,  "  not  only  to  the  good  and 
gentle,  but  also  to  the  fro  ward."  So  that  even  ill  usage 
does  not  justify  perverseness  of  behavior  in  Christian 
slaves. 

The  apostle  Paul  also  frequently  insists  upon  the  abso- 
lute necessity  of  an  unfeigned  obedience  in'the  behavior  of 
Christian  servants  to  their  masters.  "  Let  every  man  abide 
in  the  same  calling  wherein  he  was  called."  "Art  thou 
called  being  a  servant?  care  not  for  it  ;"  &c.  1  Cor.  vii. 
21.  And  again,  "  Servants,  be  obedient  to  them  that  are 
your  masters  according  to  the  flesh,  with  fear  and  trem- 
bling, in  singleness  of  your  heart  as  unto  Christ ;  not  with 
eye  service,  as  men  pleasers,  but  as  servants  of  Christ,  do- 
ing the  will  of  God  from  the  heart ;  with  good  will  doing 
service,  as  to  the  Lord,  and  not  to  men  :  knowing  that 
whatsoever  good  thing  any  man  doeth,  the  same  shall  he 
receive  of  the  Lord,  whether  he  be  bond  or  free,"  Ephes. 
vi.  5 — 8.  Again,  "  Servants  obey  in  all  things  your  mas- 
ters according  to  the  flesh  ;  not  with  eye  service,  as  men 
pleasers,  but  in  singleness  of  heart,  fearing  God  :  and  what- 
ever you  do,  do  it  heartily,  as  to  the  Lord,  and  not  unto 
men."  Colos.  iii.  22,  23. — The  same  apostle  instructs  Ti- 
mothy to  recommend  obedience  to  servants  :  "  Let  as  many 
servants,"  says  the  apostle,  "  as  are  under  the  yoke,  count 
their  own  masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  that  the  name  of 
God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed.  And  they  that 
have  believing  masters,  let  them  not  despise  them  because 
they  are  brethren  ;  but  rather  do  them  service,  because 
they  are  faithful  and  beloved    partakers  of  the  benefit. 


100  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

These  things  teach  and  exhort.  If  any  man  teach  other- 
wise,  and  consent  not  to  wholesome  words,  even  the  words 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  the  doctrine  which  is  ac- 
cording to  godliness,  he  is  proud,  knowing  nothing,  but 
dotinnr "about  questions,  and  strifes  of  words,  whereof  cometh 
envy,  strife,  railings,  evii-surmisings,  perverse  disputings  of 
men  of  corrupt  minds,  and  destitute  of  the  truth,  supposing 
that  gain  is  godliness.  From  such  withdraw  thyself.  But 
godliness  with  contentment  is  great  gain.  For  we  brought 
nothing  into  this  world,  and  it  is  certain  we  can  carry  no- 
thing out.  And  having  food  and  raiment,  let  us  be  there- 
with content."  1  Tim.  vi.  1 — 8.  And  again  he  insists  on 
the  same  doctrine  :  "  Exhort  servants,"  says  he,  "  to  be 
obedient  unto  their  own  masters,  and  to  please  them  well 
in  all  things,  not  answering  again,  not  purloining,  but 
showing  all  good  fidelity  ;  that  they  may  adorn  the  doc- 
trine of  God  our  Saviour  in  all  things."    Titus  ii.  9,  10. 

These  texts  are  amply  sufficient  to  prove  the  truth  of 
mv  learned  friend's  assertion,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the 
duty  of  the  slaves  themselves,  but  this  absolute  submission 
required  of  Christian  servants,  by  no  means  implies  the 
legality  ofslaveholding  on  the  part  of  their  masters,  which 
he  seems  to  apprehend. 

The  slave  violates  no  precepts  of  the  gospel  by  his  ab- 
ject condition,  provided  that  the  same  is  involuntary  (for  if 
he  can  be  made  free,  he  is  expressly  commanded  by  the 
apostle  to  use  it  rather.)  But  how  the  master  who  en- 
forces that  involuntary  servitude,  can  be  said  to  act  con- 
sistently with  the  Christian  profession,  is  a  question  of  a 
very  different  nature,  which  I  propose  to  examine  with  all 
possible  care  and  impartiality,  being  no  otherwise  interest- 
ed in  it  than  as  a  Christian  who  esteems  both  masters  and 
slaves  as  brethren,  and  consequently,  while  he  pities  the 
unhappy  temporal  condition  of  the  latter,  is  extremely  anx- 
ious for  the  eternal  welfare  of  the  former. 

I  have  already  admitted,  that  Christianity  doth  not  re- 
lease slaves  "  from  the  obligation  they  were  under  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  and  law  of  the  countries  where  it  was 
propagated,"  agreeable  to  my  learned  friend's  assertion,  in 


LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE.  101 

favor  of  which  I  have  produced  a  variety  of  texts  ;  but  as 
"  the  reason  of  the  law,"  (according  to  a  maxim  of  the 
English  law,)  "  is  the  life  of  the  law,"  we  cannot  with  jus- 
tice draw  any  conclusion  from  thence,  in  favor  of  the  mas- 
ter's claim,  till  we  have  examined  the  principles,  on  which 
the  doctrine  of  submission,  in  these  several  texts,  is  found- 
ed ;  and  we  shall  find,  upon  a  general  view  of  the  whole, 
that  the  principal  reason  of  enforcing  the  doctrine  was  not 
so  much  because  the  persons  addressed  were  slaves,  as  be- 
cause they  were  Christians,  and  were  to  overcome  evil  with 
good,  to  the  glory  of  God  and  religion. 

These  principles  are  clearly  expressed  in  several  of  these 
very  texts,  and  implied  in  all  of  them,  viz  :  "  That  the 
name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed  "  1  Tim. 
vi.  1.  And  again,  "  That  they  may  adorn  the  doctrine  of 
God  our  Savior  in  all  things  !  Titus  ii.  10.  So  that  a  zeal 
for  the  glory  of  God,  and  of  his  religion  (the  principles  of 
the  first  great  commandment)  is  the  apparent  ground  and 
sole  purpose  of  the  Christian  slave's  submission,  which  was 
therefore  to  be  "  with  singleness  of  heart  as  unto  Christ ; 
not  with  eye  service,  as  men  pleasers,  but  as  the  servants 
of  Christ,  doing  the  will  of  Go  J  from  the  heart ;  with  good 
will  doing  service,  as  to  the  Lord,  and  not  to  men  :  know- 
ing that  whatsoever  good  thing  any  man  doeth,  the  same 
shall  he  receive  of  the  Lord,  whether  he  be  bond  or  free." 
Ephes.  vi.  5 — 8.  And  again,  the  same  apostle  charges 
the  servants  among  the  Colossians,  to  obey  "  not  as  men 
pleasers,  but  in  singleness  of  heart,  fearing  God  :  and  what- 
soever they  do,  to  do  it  heartily  as  unto  the  Lord,  and  not 
unto  men."    Coloss.  hi.  2. 

Thus  it  is  plain  that  the  service  was  to  be  performed 
"  as  to  the  Lord,"  and  "  not  to  men,"  and  therefore  it  can- 
not be  construed  as  an  acknowledgment  of  any  right,  or 
property  really  vested  in  the  master. — This  will  clearly 
appear  upon  a  closer  examination  of  some  of  these  texts. 
In  the  first,  for  instance,  though  the  apostle  Peter  enforces 
the  necessity  of  the  servants'  submission  to  their  masters, 
in  the  strongest  manner,  commanding  them  to  be  subject 
"  not  only  to  the  good  and  gentle,  but  also  to  thefroward," 

9 


102  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

&c.  (1  Pet.  ii.  18,)  yet  he  adds  in  the  very  next  verse — 
"  for  this  is  thankworthy,  if  a  man,  for  conscience  toicards 
God,  endure  grief,  suffering  wrongfully  ;"  so  that,  it  is 
manifest,  the  apostle  did  not  mean  to  justify  the  claim  of 
the  master,  because  he  enjoined  the  same  submission  to  the 
servants  that  suffered  wrongfully,  as  to  those  who  had 
good  and  gentle  masters  :  and  it  would  be  highly  injurious 
to  the  gospel  of  peace,  to  suppose  it  capable  of  authorizing 
wrongful  sufferings,  or  of  establishing  a  right  or  power  in 
any  rank  of  men  whatever,  to  oppress  others  unjustly? 
And  though  the  apostle  Paul,  also,  so  strongly  exhorts  ser- 
vants to  submit  to  their  masters,  and  "  to  abide  in  the  same 
calling  wherein  they  were  called,"  and  "  not  care  for  it." — 
1  Cor.  vii.  20,  21.  Yet  at  the  same  time  he  clearly  in- 
structs them,  that  it  is  their  duty  to  prefer  a  state  of  free- 
dom whenever  they  can  fairly  and  honestly  obtain  it ;  "  but 
if  thou  mayest  be  made  ^ree,"  says  he,  "  use  it  rather!" 
(v.  21.)  And  the  reason  which  he  assigns  for  this  com- 
mand, is  as  plainly  delivered,  viz  :  the  equality  of  servants 
with  their  masters  in  the  sight  of  the  Almighty,  "  For  he 
that  is  called  of  the  Lord,  being  a  servant,"  says  he,  "  is 
the  Lord's  freeman  :  likewise  also  he  that  is  called  being 
free,  is  Christ's  servant"  (verse  22.)  Christ  having  pur- 
chased all  men  to  be  his  peculiar  servants,  or  rather  free- 
men.— "  Ye  are  bought  with  a  price,"  says  the  apostle  in 
the  23d  verse,  "  be  not  ye  the  servants  of  man"  which 
plainly  implies,  that  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  dignity  of  a 
Christian  who  is  the  servant  or  freeman  of  God,  to  be  held 
in  an  unlimited  subjection,  as  the  bond  servant  or  slave  of 
a  man  ;  and,  consequently,  that  a  toleration  of  slavery,  in 
places  where  Christianity  is  established  by  law,  is  entirely 
illegal ;  for  though  the  slave  commits  no  crime  by  submit- 
ting to  the  involuntary  service,  (which  has  been  already 
demonstrated,)  yet  the  Christian  master  is  guilty  of  a  sort 
of  sacrilege,  by  appropriating  to  himself,  as  an  absolute 
property,  that  body,  which  peculiarly  belongs  to  God  by 
an  inestimable  purchase  !  For  if  God  said  of  the  Jews,  even 
under  the  old  law,  (Levit.  xxv.  52,)  "  They  are  my  ser- 
vants, which  I  brought  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt ; 


LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE.  103 

THEY  SHALL    NOT    BE    SOLD    AS    BONDMEN." Ho\V    much 

more  ought  Christians  to  esteem  their  brethren,  as  the 
peculiar  servants  of  God  on  account  of  their  being  freed 
from  the  more  severe  bondage  of  our  spiritual  ene- 
my, (of  which  the  Egyptian  bondage  was  only  a  type) 
by  the  inestimable  price  of  Christ's  blood  !  and,  surely, 
we  may  therefore  say,  "  they  are  God's  servants"  whom 
Christ  hath  redeemed  with  his  own  blood,  as  much 
as  the  Jews  of  old,  who  were  on  that  account  express- 
ly enfranchised  from  worldly  bondage,  "  they  are  my 
servants,  they  shall  not  be  sold  as  bondmen ;"  for  this  ap- 
plication of  the  text  is  entirely  to  the  same  effect  as  the 
apostle's  expression  to  the  Corinthians — "  Ye  are  bought 
with  a  price,  be  ye  not  the  servants  of  men."  1  Cor.  vii. 
23.  Dr.  Whitby,  indeed  supposes  that  the  words  "  ye  are 
bought  with  a  price,"  refer  only  to  a  pecuniary  price  given 
by  the  primitive  Christians,  to  buy  their  brethren  out  of 
slavery.  But  the  authority  of  Justin  Martyr  and  Ter- 
tullian,  which  he  cites,  by  no  means  proves  his  interpreta- 
tion of  the  text,  though  it  may  sufficiently  prove  the  pri- 
mitive practice  of  redeeming  slaves  ;  which  also  furnishes 
a  new  argument  against  the  legality  of  slavery  among 
Christians,  so  far  as  the  example  of  the  primitive  Christians 
is  concerned.  But  scripture  is  best  interpreted  by  scrip- 
ture, and  therefore  the  most  certain  means  of  ascertaining 
the  true  meaning  of  the  words  ripm  vyopaoSrjTE,  "  ye  are 
bought  with  a  price,"  is  to  have  recourse  to  the  very  same 
expression  (vyopao^rz  yap  rt/o??,  the  words  being  only  trans- 
posed) in  the  preceding  chapter  20th  verse,  where  we  shall 
find  that  it  can  refer  to  nothing  less  than  the  inestimable 
price  of  Christ's  redemption  :  "  What !  know  ye  not,"  says 
the  apostle,  "  that  your  body  is  the  temple  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  which  is  in  you,  which  ye  have  of  God,  and  ye  are 
not  your  own  ?  for  ye  are  bought  with  a  price:  therefore 
glorify  God  in  your  body,  and  in  your  spirit,  which  are 
God's,"  (1  Cor.  vi.  19,  20,)  and,  consequently,  it  is  the 
duty  of  a  Christian  legislature  to  vindicate  the  Lord's  free- 
men from  slavery,  as  all  mankind  are  included  in  the  same 
inestimable  purchase,  for  it  is  not  only  their  souls  but  even 


104  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

their  bodies,  which  are  God's  ;"  and  therefore  it  is  an 
abominable  sacrilege,  that  those  bodies  which  are  capable 
of  being  the  "  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  should  be 
esteemed  the  mere  chattels  and  private  property  of  merce- 
nary planters  and  merchants,  merely  for  the  sake  of  a  little 
worldly  gain  ! 

But  slaveholders  may  perhaps  allege  that  believing  mas- 
ters are  mentioned  as  "  faithful  and  beloved,"  in  one  of  the 
texts  which  I  have  cited,  and  are  also  expressly  accounted 
as  "  partakers  of  the  benefit,"  (see  1  Tim.  vi.  2,)  so  that, 
from  thence,  they  may  perhaps  infer,  that  slave  keeping  is 
not  inconsistent  with  their  Christian  profession. 

But  these  expressions  are  included  in  that  part  of  the 
apostle's  charge  to  Timothy,  which  relates  merely  to  the 
instruction  of  servants,  so  that  there  is  no  room  to  suppose, 
that  any  reference  was  intended  to  the  practice  of  the  mas- 
ters by  way  of  justification. — The  meaning  therefore  can 
amount  to  no  more  than  this,  viz  :  that  as  it  is  the  duty  of 
servants  to  "  count  their  own  masters" — even  those  that 
are  unbelievers — "  worthy  of  all  honor,*  that  the  name  of 
God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed,"  so  the  same  rea- 
son obliges  them,  more  especially,  to  count  their  believing 
masters  "  worthy  of  all  lawful  honor,"  because  of  their 
Christian  profession,  which  renders  them  accepted  of  God. 
For  common  charity  obliges  us,  as  Christians,  to  suppose 
that  all  men,  who  believe  and  hold  the  same  professions  as 
ourselves,  are  "  faithful  and  beloved,"  as  well  as  "  par- 
takers of  the  benefit"  of  Christ's  redemption,  because  be- 
lief is  the  true  means  of  leading  and  disposing  men  to  ac- 
quire such  happiness  ;  and  though  many  other  necessary 
Christian  qualities  may  seem  wanting  in  our  believing 
brethren,  yet  we  must  not  presume  to  condemn  them  ;  Gocl 
alone  being  their  judge  :  and,  for  this  reason  also,  Chris- 
tian servants  must  not  condemn  and  despise  their  believing 
masters,  (though  they  know  themselves  equal  in  dignity  as 
brethren,  and  that  it  is,  consequently,  their  masters  duty  to 

*  Apparently  meaning,  "  all    honor"   which   is  not  inconsistent 
with  their  duty  to  God. 


LAW   OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE.  105 

treat  them  as  brethren)  but  must  render  them  service  the 
more  willingly  on  this  account,  having  brotherly  love  as 
an  additional  motive  to  faithful  service.  It  is  manifest, 
therefore,  that  this  text  was  intended  to  regulate  the  con- 
duct of  Christian  servants,  and  not  that  of  Christian  mas- 
ters ;  for,  with  regard  to  the  former,  the  doctrine  is  per- 
fectly consistent  with  the  other  texts,  that  I  have  quoted  ; 
which  is  not  the  case  when  it  is  applied  to  justify  the  mere 
temporal  claims  of  masters  or  slaveholders,  because  there 
are  many  clear  and  incontrovertible  precepts  throughout 
the  New  Testament  for  regulating  the  conduct  of  Christian 
masters,  which  exclude  the  justification  of  any  such  claims 
among  Christians,  and  consequently  forbid  any  application 
or  interpretation  of  these  particular  texts  in  favor  of  them : 
and  besides  we  must  always  remember,  that  it  is  not  law- 
ful to  maintain  an  hypothesis  upon  the  testimony  of  any  one 
single  text  of  doubtful  interpretation,  especially  when  the 
same  does  not  clearly  correspond  with  the  rest  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  cannot  bear  the  test  "  of  the  royal  law,"  of  which 
more  shall  be  said  in  my  tract  "on  the  Law  of  Liberty.'' 

I  mention  this  text  of  St.  Paul,  as  one  of  "  doubtful  in- 
terpretation," because  commentators  are  divided  concern- 
ing the  application  of  the  very  words  on  which  the  imagi- 
nary justification  of  the  slaveholder  is  supposed  to  be 
founded  !  Many  learned  men  (and  Dr.  Hammond  among 
the  rest)  have  construed  the  words — "  5«  m^oi  ziaivnai  ayamjroi, 
01  rrjs  evtpyeaLas  avn\a[i6avofi£voi,"  (1  Tim.  vi.  2.)*  in  a  very  dif- 
ferent manner  from  the  common  version,  and  applied  them 
to  the  servants,  which  entirely  destroys  the  presumption  in 
favor  of  the  slaveholder. 

Nevertheless  I  have  contented  myself  with  the  common 
rendering,  being  convinced  that  no  conclusions  can  fairly 
be  drawn  from  this  text  in  favor  of  slavery,  even  when 
the  epithets  "  faithful  and  beloved,"  &c.  are  applied  to  the 


*  These  words  are  translated  by  Dr.  Hammond  as  follows : — 
"  Because  they  who  help  to  do  good  are  faithful  and  beloved" 
and  he  uses  several  arguments  to  show  that  these  epithets  refer  to 
the  servants,  rather  than  to  the  masters, 

9* 


106  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

masters;  because  the  signification  of  them  must  necessa- 
rily be  restrained  within  the  bounds  of  gospel  doctrine  ; 
and,  therefore,  we  cannot  conceive  that  the  apostle  intend- 
ed, by  the  application  of  these  epithets,  to  justify  any 
practices  which  are  inconsistent  with  the  benevolence  en- 
joined in  other  parts  of  the  New  Testament ;  for  this 
would  be  liable  to  produce  a  contrary  effect  from  that 
which  the  apostle  expressly  intended  by  his  injunction, 
viz  :  that  "  the  name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blas- 
phemed." 

Thus  it  appears,  I  hope,  that  the  principles,  on  which 
the  doctrine  of  the  servant's  submission  is  founded,  are 
clearly  expressed  ;  so  that  slaveholders  can  have  no  right 
to  avail  themselves  of  any  of  these  texts  to  enforce  an  ah- 
solute  submission ;  for  though  these  several  texts  clearly 
justify  the  stave,  yet  they  cannot  justify  the  master,  un- 
less he  can  show  that  the  same  principles,  (or  reason  of 
the  law)  on  which  they  are  founded,  hold  good  also  on 
his  side  of  the  question.*    Can  the  slaveholders  and  A  frican 


*  This  is  apparently  the  case  in  the  other  "  different  rela- 
tions of  life,  mentioned  in  these  contexts,"  as  in  the  relation  be- 
tween husbands  and  their  wives,  parents  and  their  children,  but  is 
far  otherwise  in  the  relation  between  masters  and  their  servants, 
(unless  free  hired  servants  are  to  be  understood,)  and  therefore  the 
objection  of  my  learned  friend,  drawn  from  thence,  cannot  be  just. 
He  says,  "If  the  connexion  of  persons  in  the  two  former  respects 
be  lawful,  so  that  husbands  had  a  right  to  the  subjection  of  their 
wives,  and  wives  a  right  to  the  love  of  their  husbands  ;  parents 
had  a  right  to  the  honour  and  obedience  of  their  children,  and  chil- 
dren a  right  to  maintenanco  and  instruction  by  their  parents  ;  unna- 
tural (says  he)  is  it  to  imagine  the  connection  between  master 
and  slaves  was  looked  upon  by  him  as  absolutely  unlawful,  so  that 
the  former  had  no  right  to  rule  the  latter !  Indeed,  he  very  clearly 
signifies  (says  he)  that  the  right  of  dominion  remained,  when  he 
opposes  doing  wrong  to  obeying  in  all  things  their  masters  accord, 
ing  to  the  flesh,  Sec.  as  he  does.   Coloss.  iii.  25."     " '0  <5e  a<Wv 

KOfiuirat  b  ^]SlK^]acv.,' 

But  my  learned  friend  has  entirely  misunderstood  the  purport 
and  intention  of  my  arguments  on  these  several  texts  relating  to 
obedience  and  submission.  I  have  not  attempted  to  prove,  by 
these  particular  expressions  of  the  apostle,  that  "  the  connection 


LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE.  107 

traders  allege,  for  instance,   that   they  shall   u  adorn  the' 
doctrine  of  God  our  Savior,"  (Titus  ii.   10,)  by  persisting 


between  masters  and  slaves  "  was  looked  upon  by  him  as  abso- 
lutely unlawful,  so  that  the  former  had  no  right  to  rule  the  latter  ;" 
for  this  I  have  demonstrated,  I  trust,  by  other  authorities  of  scrip- 
ture equally  authentic,  and  much  less  liable  to  be  misunderstood. 
My  attempt  to  explain  the  texts  in  question  extends  no  further  than 
to  show  that  they  do  not  really  justify  the  uncharitable  claims  of 
the  modern  slaveholders,  though  they  are  frequently  cited  for  that 
purpose. 

An  attempt  to  show  that  any  particular  doctrine  is  not  necessa- 
rily implied  in  a  certain  text  or  texts  of  scripture,  is  a  very  differ- 
ent thing  from  an  attempt  to  prove  or  authenticate  an  opposite  doc- 
trine by  the  same  text  of  scripture  !  For  instance,  when  my  learn- 
ed friend  asserts,  as  above,  that  the  apostle  to  the  Colossians,  iii. 
25,  "very  clearly  signifies  that  the  right  of  dominion  remained, 
when  he  opposes  doing  wrong  to  obeying  in  all  ihings  their  mas- 
ters." &c.  I  do  not  pretend  to  build  an  opposite  doctrine  upon  the 
very  same  words,  but  shall  only  endeavour  to  show  that  this  sup- 
posed "  right  of  dominion"  is  not  necessarily  implied  in  the  text 
which  my  friend  has  cited  in  support  of  it. 

The  servants  are  indeed  expressly  and  plainly  exhorted  to  obedi- 
ence and  submission,  as  well  in  this  as  in  all  the  other  texts  before 
recited,  so  that  a  contrary  behavior  in  them  might  certainly  be  es- 
teemed a  "  doing  wrong"  on  their  part,  yet  this  by  no  means  im- 
plies "  a  right  of  dominion"  vested  in  the  master  ;  for  that  would 
prove  too  much  ;  because  the  like  submission  is  elsewhere  equally 
enjoined  to  those  who  are  expressly  said  to  "  endure  grief,  suffer- 
ing wrongfully  "  and  we  cannot  suppose  (as  I  have  before  observ- 
ed) that  the  submission  enjoined  implies  a  right  in  masters  to  exer- 
cise such  a  dominion  as  that  of  oppressing  others  unjustly,  for  that 
could  not  possibly  tend  to  promote  the  declared  purposes  of  the 
apostle's  exhortations,  viz  :  "  that  the  name  of  God  and  his  doctrine 
be  not  blasphemed,"  (1  Tim.  vi.)  And  again,  "that  they  may 
adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  in  all  things,"  (Titus  ii.  9.)  These  pur- 
poses, however,  are  fully  answered  in  the  advice  given  by  the  same 
apostle  to  all  the  other  different  relations  of  life  mentioned  by  my 
worthy  friend.  Wives  may  "  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God"  by  sub- 
mission to  their  "  own  husbands,  as  it  is  fit  in  the  Lord."  (See  Co- 
loss,  iii.  18.)  And  husbands  by  love  to  their  wives  :  for  they  are 
expressly  charged  in  the  following  verse  "not  to  be  bitter  against 
them,"  that  is,  they  must,  by  love  and  sincere  affection,  moderate 
and  soften  that  supreme  authority  with  which  husbands  are  en- 
trusted, (by  the  laws  of  God  and  man,)  that  they  may  rule  rather  by 
the  gentle  influence  of  an  inviolable  love  and  fidelity,  as  so  good  an 


108  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

in  their  unnatural   pretensions  to  an  absolute  property  in 
their  poor   brethren  ?    or  that  they  "  do  the  will  of  God 


example  will  seldom  fail  to  produce  due  respect,  and  will  certainly 
"adorn  the  doctrine"  or  profession  of  the  Christian.  Children 
"  may  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God"  by  obedience  to  their  "  parents 
in  all  things  for  this  is  well-pleasing,"  says  the  text,  "  unto  the 
Lord."  (v.  20.)  And  again,  the  reciprocal  duty  of  fathers  is  plain- 
ly  pointed  out  to  be  a  prudent  moderation  of  that  paternal  authority 
with  which  they  are  entrusted,  for  they  are  carefully  warned  against 
arbitrary  severity.  "  Provoke  not,"  says  the  apostle,  "  your  chil- 
dren to  anger,  lest  they  be  discouraged."  Servants  are  in  the  very 
next  verse  (v.  22)  commanded  to  "  obey  in  all  things  their  masters 
according  to  the  flesh,  not  with  eye-service,  as  men  pleasers,  but  in 
singleness  of  heart,  fearing  God  :"  so  that  the  submission  of  the 
servants  was  also  to  adorn  the  "  doctrine  of  God,"  it  being  mani- 
festly enjoined  only  for  God's  sake,  and  not  on  account  of  any  sup- 
posed "right  of  dominion"  invested  in  the  masters,  which  the  fol- 
lowing verses  (v.  23  and  24,)  when  applied  to  the  servants,  suffi- 
ciently demonstrate — "  And  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  it  heartily  as  to 
the  Lord,  and  not  unto  men  :  knowing,  that  of  the  Lord  ye  shall 
receive  the  reward  of  the  i-nheritance :  for  ye  serve  the  Lord 
Christ."  And  to  the  same  eternal  and  unerring  dispenser  of  re- 
wards— and  not  to  temporal  masters — is  attributed  the  power  of  pu- 
nishing the  "  doing  wrong,"  mentioned  in  the  very  next  verse  ; 
which  according  to  my  learned  friend's  notion,  is  opposed  to  obey- 
ing in  all  things  the  masters — "  he  that  doeth  wrong,"  says  the  text. 
"  shall  receive  for  the  wrong  which  he  hath  done  ;  and  there  is 
no  respect  of  persons."  (v.  25.) 

Such  strict  impartiality  in  the  administration  of  justice  cannot 
always  be  attributed,  with  certainty,  even  to  the  best  regulated  hu- 
man tribunal,  and  much  less  is  it  applicable  to  the  decisions  of  un- 
controlled will  and  pleasure,  in  punishing  "  wrong  doing,"  under 
the  absolute  dominion  of  slaveholders !  No  earthly  dominion 
whatever  is  conducted  with  such  an  equal  distribution  of  rewards 
and  punishments,  as  that  it  may  always  with  truth  be  said,  "there 
is  no  respect  of  persons,"  for  this  is  the  proper  characteristic  of 
the  judgments  and  dominion  of  God  and  Christ  alone.  "  For  the 
Lord  is  judge,  and  with  him  is  no  respect  of  persons ."  Eccles. 
xxxv.  12.  "For  there  is  no  respect  of  persons  with  God."  Rom. 
ii.  U.  And,  therefore,  we  may  fairly  conclude  that  the  punish- 
ment, not  only  of  slaves,  but  that  also  of?nasters,  that  "do  wrong," 
is  to  be  understood  in  the  text  which  my  friend  has  cited  to  support 
his  notion  of  a  "  right  of  dominion"  vested  in  the  masters ;  so  that 
the  said  supposed  right  has,  indeed,  but  a  very  "  slippery"  founda- 
tion !     Agreeable  to  my  last  remark  on  this  text,  (Coloss.  iii.  24,) 


LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE.  109 

from  the  heart,"  (Ephes.  vi.  v,  &c.  )  when  they  retain 
their  neighbor  in  an  involuntary,  unrewarded  servitude  for 

the  learned  Dr.  Whitby  has  commented  upon  it,  as  if  he  thought 
it  exactly  parallel  to  another  declaration  of  the  same  apostle,  (viz. 
Ephes.  vi.  8  and  9,)  wherein  not  only  both  masters  and  servants 
are  unquestionably  included,  but  also  the  dominion,  or  judgment, 
in  which  "  there  is  no  respect  of  persons,"  is  expressly  attributed 
to  our  "Master  in  heaven."  "Christ,  in  judging  men  at  the  last 
day,"  says  the  Doctor,  "  will  have  no  respect  to  the  quality  or  ex- 
ternal condition  of  any  man's  person  ;  but,  whether  he  he  bond  or 
free,  he  shall  receive  recompense  for  the  good  that  he  hath  done, 
in  obedience  to  him  ;  whether  he  be  master  or  servant,  he  shall  be 
punished  for  the  wrong  that  he  doeth  in  those  relations." 

If  all  these  circumstances  be  duly  considered,  it  will  manifestly 
appear,  I  trust,  the  master's  supposed  "  right  of  dominion" — which 
certainly  is  not  expressed  in  the  text — cannot  even  be  implied  in 
these  contexts,  nor  in  any  of  the  parallel  passages  already  recited  ! 
Can  the  master  adorn  the  '  doctrine  of  God  our  Savior" — as  in 
the  other  indissoluble  relations  of  life — by  continuing  the  unnatu- 
ral connection  of  master  and  slave,  and  by  exacting  involuntary  la- 
bor from  his  brethren  without  wages  or  reward,  agreeable  to  my 
friend's  notions  of  the  supposed  implied  "  right  of  dominion  1"  The 
reciprocal  duty  of  the  master  is  mentioned,  indeed,  in  the  next  chap- 
ter, (Col  iv.  1,)  but  it  is  of  such  a  nature  as  must  necessarily  lead 
Christian  masters  to  abhor  any  such  supposed  "right  of  dominion" 
as  that  which  is  tolerated  in  the  British  colonies,  and  which  my 
friend  seems  desirous  to  defend  !  The  masters  are  not  directed 
by  the  apostle  to  claim  as  their  own,  by  "  right  of  dominion,"  the 
labor  of  their  servants  without  wages,  but,  on  the  contrary,  are  ex- 
pressly commanded  to  "give  unto  their  servants  that  which  is  just 
and  equal;  which  comprehends  (as  I  have  fully  shown  in  the  pre- 
ceding tract)  such  a  measure  of  generosity,  recompense,  and  be- 
nevolence, on  the  part  of  the  master  as  is  totally  inconsistent  with 
the  claims  and  views  of  modern  slaveholders!  and,  if  put  in  prac- 
tice, would  necessarily  effect  the  entire  abolition  of  slavery  \ 

The  masters  are  likewise  carefully  reminded,  in  the  last  men, 
tioned  text,  that  they  "  also  have  a  Master  in  heaven." — (Col.  iv.  1.) 
A  Master,  hy  whose  example  they  are  bound  to  regulate  their  con. 
duct,  so  that  this  consideration  alone  is  a  sufficient  antidote  against 
slavery;  for  the  principal  doctrine  of  that  heavenly  Master  was 
XjOVe,  which  cannot  subsist  with  the  contrary  exaction  of  involun- 
tary servitude  !  "  This  is  my  commandment,"  said  that  glorious 
and  gracious  Master,  "  That  ye  love  one  another  as  I  have  loved 
you."  The  nature  of  his  love  (which  we  are  to  imitate,  that  is,  to 
love  as  he  hath  loved  us)  is  then  immediately  described  as  exceed- 


110  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

life  ?  If  they  can  do  this,  I  shall  have  reason  to  be  silent. 
But  if,  on  the  contrary,  it  should  evidently  appear  that  a 
very  different  behavior  is  required  of  Christian  masters, 
"  that  the  name  of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  bias- 
phemed,"  (1  Tim.  vi.  1,)  they  must  be  obliged  to  allow 


ing  all  bounds  of  comparison  :  "  Greater  love,"  said  he  "  hath  no 
man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay  down  his  life  for  his  friends. — Ye 
are  my  friends,  if  ye  do  whatsoever  I  command  you."  "  Henceforth 
I  call  you  not  servants."  Here  is  an  express  enfranchisement  of 
his  servants  for  our  example  !  The  universal  Lord  and  Master  of 
all  men  delights  in  promoting  the  dignity  of  human  nature  ;  which 
cannot  be  said  of  the  temporal  slaveholder,  who  enforces  an  ima- 
aginary  "  right  of  dominion"  by  exacting  an  involuntary  service, 
and  that  for  no  other  purpose  than  for  the  sake  of  a  little  pecunia- 
ry gain,  by  depriving  the  laborer  of  his  hire ;  which  savors  of  no 
other  love  but  self-love;  whereas,  our  disinterested  Lord  and  Mas- 
ter hath  even  laid  down  his  life  through  love  and  compassion  to  his 
servants,  and  hath  declared  us  free,  as  before  recited.  "  Hence- 
forth I  call  you  not  servants ;  for  the  servant,"  said  he,  "  knoweth 
not  what  his  Lord  doeth  ;  but  I  have  called  you  friends  ;  for  al! 
things  that  I  have  heard  of  my  Father  I  have  made  known  unto 
you."  John  xv.  12 — 15.  And,  in  the  17th  verse  he  again  enfor- 
ces his  doctrine  of  love.  "  These  things,  I  command  you,"  said  he 
"that  ye  love  one  another."  The  measure  of  this  indispensable 
love  is  expressly  declared  in  the  Scriptures,  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself.  "  Love  worketh  no  ill  to  his  neighbor : 
therefore  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law."     Rom.  xiii.  9  and  10. 

Such  love,  therefore,  is  clearly  incompatible  with  the  arbitrary 
claims  of  the  slaveholder,  who  can  neither  be  said  to  love  his 
neighbor  as  himself,  nor  to  cherish  that  love  which  worketh  no  ill 
to  his  neighbor,  whilst  he  strenuously  contends  for  such  "  a  right 
of  dominion"  as  may  enable  him  to  exact  not  only  the  involuntary 
service  of  his  neighbors  and  brethren,  contrary  to  the  law  of  na- 
ture, but  also  to  rob  them  of  the  fruits  of  their  own  labors,  "  Giv- 
ing them  not  for  their  work  ;"  against  which  practices  a  severe  de- 
nunciation of  woe  is  expressly  declared  in  the  Scriptures  ;  as  I  have 
fully  demonstrated  in  my  tract  on  "  the  Law  of  Retribution"  as 
well  as  in  the  preceding  tract :  and,  therefore,  as  it  is  necessary  to 
construe  difficult  or  dubious  passages  of  Scripture  consistently 
with  the  general  tenor  of  Scripture  evidence,  it  would  be  highly 
improper  to  admit  this  opposite  doctrine  of  a  supposed  "  right  of 
dominion,"  especially  as  the  same  is  not  expressed  in  the  text  which 
my  learned  friend  has  cited  for  it,  but  is  merely  drawn  forth  by  an 
imaginary  implication  \ 


LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE.  Ill 

that  the  "  reason  or  life  of  the  law"  is  against  them  ;  and, 
consequently,  that  none  of  these  texts,  relating  to  Chris- 
tian servants,  are  capable  of  affording  them  the  least  ex- 
cuse for  their  selfish  pretensions.  They  will  find  also, 
upon  a  more  careful  examination  of  the  scripture,  that 
they  themselves  are  as  much  bound  by  the  gospel  to  bear 
personal  injuries  with  patience  and  humility,  as  their 
slaves.  Because  the  benevolent  principles  of  the  gospel 
of  peace  require  all  men,  freemen  as  well  ;«s  slaves,  to  re- 
turn "  good  for  evil."  "  Bless  them  that  curse  you,"  said 
our  Lord,  "  and  pray  for  them  which  despitefully  use  you. 
And  unto  him  that  smiteth  thee  on  the  one  cheek,  offer  also 
the  other ;  and  him  that  taketh  away  thy  cloak,  forbid  him 
not  to  take  thy  coat  also,"  &c.  Luke  vi.  28,  29.  But, 
though  submission  and  placability  are  thus  unquestionably 
enjoined  to  the  sufferers  in  all  the  cases  above  recited  in 
the  text,  yet  surely  no  reasonable  man  will  pretend  to  al- 
lege, from  thence,  that  tyrants  and  oppressors  have  there- 
by obtained  a  legal  right,  under  the  gospel,  to  curse  others, 
and  use  them  despitefully  ;  or  that  the  unjust  oppression 
of  strikers  and  robbers  is  thereby  authorized  or  justified  ! 
In  the  same  light  exactly  must  w,e  view  the  slaveholders 
claim  of  private  property  in  the  persons  of  men,  whenever 
an  attempt  is  made  to  support  it  on  the  foundation  of  any 
such  texts  as  I  have  quoted,  wherein  servants  or  slaves  are 
exhorted  to  submit  with  passive  obedience,  &c.  to  their 
masters;  because  the  right  (as  it  is  improperly  called)  or 
pretension  of  the  master  may  with  the  greatest  propriety 
be  compared  to  the  pretended  right  or  authority  of  op- 
pressing or  robbing  others,  which  is  too  often  exercised  by 
imperial  tyrants  and  despotic  princes,  as  well  as  by  their 
brethren  in  iniquity  of  a  lower  class,  viz  :  pirates,  high- 
waymen, and  extortioners  of  every  degree  !  The  gospel 
of  peace  cannot  authorize  the  oppression  of  these  lawless 
men,  though  it  clearlv  enjoins  patience,  submission,  and 
acquiescence,  to  the  individuals  that  are  injured,  whether 
freemen  or  slaves!  The  placability  and  absolute  submis- 
sion, commanded  by  the  last  cited  text,  to  Christians  in 
general,  are  manifestly  founded  on  the  very  same  princi- 


112  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

pies  with  that  particular  submission  which  the  gospel  re- 
quires of  Christian  slaves ;  and  is  further  parallel  to  the 
latter,  by  being  equally  passive  ;  so  that  the  oppression  of 
the  slaveholder  can  no  more  be  justified  by  any  text  of  the 
New  Testament,  that  I  am  able  to  find,  than  the  oppres- 
sion of  the  striker  and  robber. 

Unhappily  for  the  Christian  world,  the  duties  of  patience, 
submission,  and  placability,  enjoined  by  the  gospel  to  per. 
sons  injured,  are  too  commonly  either  misunderstood  or 
rejected  ;  though  the  temporal,  as  well  as  the  eternal, 
happiness  of  mankind  greatly  depends  upon  a  conscien- 
tious and  proper  observance  of  these  duties  :  for  even  the 
most  rigid  obedience  to  the  letter  of  the  command  would 
be  far  from  being  productive,  either  of  the  real  evils  to 
which  the  pernicious  doctrine  of  a  national  passive  obedi- 
ence apparently  tends,  or  of  the  imaginary  inconveniences 
apprehended  by  the  advocates  for  duelling,  because  the 
same  benevolent  principles,  (viz :  universal  love  and 
charity,  founded  on  the  great  commandment,  "  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself,")  which  oblige  the  true 
Christian,  most  disinterestedly,  to  forgive  all  injuries,  and 
pass  over  every  affront  offered  to  his  own  person,  will  ne- 
cessarily engage  him,  on  the  other  hand,  as  disinterestedly, 
to  oppose  every  degree  of  oppression  and  injustice,  which 
affects  his  brethren  and  neighbors,  when  he  has  a  fair 
opportunity  of  assisting  them  ;  and  from  hence  arises  the 
zeal  of  good  men  for  just  and  equitable  laws,  as  being  the 
most  effectual  means  of  preserving  the  peace  and  happiness 
of  the  community,  by  curbing  the  insolence  and  violence 
of  wicked  men.  We  have  an  eminent  example  of  this 
loyal  zeal  in  the  behavior  of  the  apostle  Paul,  who  could 
not  brook  an  infringement  of  the  Roman  liberty  from  any 
persons  whatever  in  the  administration  of  government, 
though  he  could  endure  personal  injuries  from  men  uncon- 
nected therewith,  and  the  persecutions  of  the  multitude, 
with  all  the  Christian  patience  and  meekness  which  the 
gospel  requires."  The  scripture  history  of  this  great  apos- 
tle affords  many  proofs  of  his  extraordinary  humility  and 
patience  under  sufferings,  so  that  his  spirited  opposition  to 


LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE.  113 

the  illegal  proceedings  of  magistrates  cannot  be  attributed 
to  private  resentment  on  his  own  account,  but  merely  to 
his  zeal  for  the  public  good,  founded  upon  the  great  Chris- 
tian  principle  of  "  loving  his  neighbor  as  himself,"  since 
the  maintaining  of  good  laws  is,  certainly,  the  most  effec- 
tual means  of  promoting  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  so- 
ciety. His  resolute  and  free  censure  of  the  magistrates 
at  Philippi,  in  the  message  which  he  sent  by  their  own  Ser- 
jeants,* his  spirited  remonstrance  to  the  chief  captain  at  Je- 
rusalem^ and  his  severe  rebuke  to  the  high  priest  himself, 
even  on  the  seat  of  judgment,^:  are  remarkable  instances 
of  this  observation. 


*  "  And,  when  it  was  day,  the  magistrates  sent  the  Serjeants, 
saying,  Let  those  men  go.  And  the  keeper  of  the  prison  told  this, 
saying  to  Paul,  The  magistrates  have  sent  to  let  you  go  :  now 
therefore  depart,  and  go  in  peace.  But  Paul  said  unto  them,  They 
have  be  iten  us  openly  uncondemned,  being  Romans,  and  have  cast 
(us)  into  prison  :  and  now  do  they  thrust  us  out  privily  !  nay  verily  ; 
bat  let  them  come  themselves  and  fetch  us  out.  And  the  Serjeants 
told  these  words  unto  the  magistrates  :  and  they  feared  when  they 
heard  that  they  were  Romans.  And  they  came  and  besought  them, 
and  brought  them  out,  and  desired  them  to  depart  out  of  the  city." 
Acts  xvi,  35 — 39. 

t  "  The  chief  captain  commanded  him  to  be  brought  into  the 
castle,  and  bade  that  he  should  be  examined  by  scourging  ;  that  he 
might  know  wherefore  they  cried  so  against  him. — And,  as  they 
■bound  him  with  thongs,  Paul  said  unto  the  centurion  that  stood  by, 
Is  it  lawful  for  you  to  scourge  a  man  that  is  a  Roman,  and  uncon- 
demned'] When  the  centurion  heard  (that)  he  went  and  told  the  chief 
captain,  saying,  Take  heed  what  thou  doest :  for  this  man  is  a  Ro- 
man. Then  the  chief  captain  came,  and  said  unto  him,  Tell  me, 
art  thou  a  Roman  ?  He  said,  Yea.  And  the  chief  captain  answer- 
ed, With  a  great  sum  obtained  I  this  freedom.  And  Paul  said, 
But  I  was  free  born.  Then  straightway  they  departed  from  him 
which  should  have  examined  him :  and  the  chief  captain  was  also  a- 
fraid  after  he  knew  that  he  was  a  Roman,  and  because  he  had  bound 
him.  On  the  morrow,  because  he  would  have  known  the  certainty 
wherefore  he  was  accused  of  the  Jews,  he  loosed  him  from  (his) 
bands,  and  commanded  the  chief  priests  and  all  their  council  to  ap- 
pear, and  brought  Paul  down  and  set  him  before  them."  Acts 
xxii.  24—30. 

t  "And  Paul   earnestly  beholding  the  council,  said,   Men  and 
brethren,  I  have  lived  in  all  good  conscience  before  God  until  this 

10 


114  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

In  the  last  mentioned  instance,  indeed,  the  apostle  was 
charged,  by  those  "  that  stood  by,"  with  reviling  God's 
high  priest,  which  would  have  been  a  notorious  breach  of 
the  law,  had  there  not  been  circumstances  of  justification 
sufficient  to  vindicate  the  severity  of  the  apostle's  censure  : 
these,  however,  were  not  urged  by  the  apostle  himself, 
who  best  knew  how  to  behave  towards  those  with  whom 
he  had  to  do.  He  readily  allowed  the  principle,  however, 
on  which  the  censure  of  his  accusers  was  founded,  but  he 
by  no  means  retracted  what  he  had  so  justly  applied  to  the 
person  of  the  unworthy  magistrate  who  sat  to  judge  him  ; 
neither  did  he  even  acknowledge  him  to  be  the  high  priest, 
though  he  was  expressly  questioned  for  a  supposed  misbe- 
havior to  that  dignitary !  His  answer  was  cautiously 
worded.  He  did  not  say — I  know  not  that  this  person, 
whom  I  have  censured,  was  the  high  priest,  but — ovk  rfeiv 
afoMoi,  hn  rr«v  apxupevs,  &c.  "  I  knew  not,  brethren,  that  there 
is  a  high  priest."*  Which  answer,  though  on  the  first 
hearsay  it  seems  to  bear  some  affinity  to  an  excuse  or  apo- 
logy for  what  had  past,  yet  in  reality,  includes  a  still  far- 
ther rebuke  ;  for  it  plainly  implies  that  the  high  priest,  in 
whose  presence  the  apostle  then  stood,  was  (in  some  re- 
spect or  other)  deficient  or  blaineable  in  his  deportment  as 
chief  magistrate,  either  that  he  did  not  duly  support  the 
dignity  of  that  sacred  and  distinguishing  public  character, 
so  that  he  did  not  seem  to  be  high  priest,  and  of  course  could 
not  be  known  and  honored  as  such  ;  or  else  that  his  be- 


day.  And  the  high  priest  Ananias  commanded  them  that  stood 
by  him  to  smite  him  on  the  mouth.  Then  Paul  said  unto  him,  God 
shall  smite  thee,  (thou)  whited  wall;  for,  siitest  thou  to  judge  me 
after  the  law,  and  commandest  me  to  be  smitten  contrary  to  the 
law?  And  they  that  stood  by  said,  Revilest  thou  God's  high  priest  ? 
Then  said  Paul,  I  wist  not,  brethren,  that  he  was  the  high  priest, 
for  it  is  written,  Thou  shalt  not  speak  evil  of  the  ruler  of  thy  peo- 
ple.    Acts  xxiii.  1 — 5. 

*  The  learned  Hugh  Broughton  has  construed  the  text  as  follows — 
«•  I  knew  not,  brethren,  that  there  was  a  high  priest ;"  but  the 
words  ovk  rjhtv,  aSeXioi,  brt  c?iv  ap%iepevs,  are  more  literally  rendered 
above.  Castalio  reads  it — "  Nesciebam,  fratres,  esse  pontificem. 
And  Heinsius — "  Summum  esse  sacerdotem  ignorabam." 


LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE.  115 

havior  had  been  so  unjust  and  illegal  that  he  did  not  de- 
serve to  be  considered  as  a  lawful  magistrate,  who  had 
publicly  demeaned  himself  as  a  tyrant,  by  commanding  a 
prisoner  to  be  beaten  contrary  to  law,  without  hearing  his 
defence  !  And,  that  this  latter  sense  is  most  probable,  we 
may  learn  by  the  following  circumstance,  viz  :  that  thd 
apostle  chose  to  decline  the  dispute,  and  to  waive  the  accu- 
sation about  reviling  the  high  priest,  by  acknowledging  the 
principle  of  law  on  which  it  was  manifestly  founded,  viz : 
"Thou  shalt  not  speak  evil  of  the  ruler  of  thy  people." 
But  be  pleased  to  observe,  he  neither  acknowledged  that 
he  himself  had  broken  the  said  precept  by  so  severely 
censuring  the  unjust  ruler,  nor  did  he  acknowledge  the  pre- 
sence of  a  high  priest  in  the  person  of  Ananias  ;  neither 
did  he  allow  the  bystanders  time  enough  to  criticise  upo. 
the  true  literal  meaning  of  his  reply,  (whereby  they  would 
probably  have  been  led  to  demand  some  express  recanta- 
tion of  the  personal  censure  which  he  had  so  amply  bestow- 
ed upon  the  high  priest,)  but  he  prudently  changed  the 
subject  in  debate  from  the  person  of  the  high  priest  (who 
was  a  zealous  overbearing  Sadducee)  to  an  avowed  cen- 
sure of  his  whole  sect,  charging  the  Sadducees  in  particular 
with  the  unjust  persecution,  then  before  the  assembly,  and 
openly  appealing  to  the  opposite  party,  the  Pharisees,  in 
order  to  divide  his  united  enemies  :  "  I  am  a  Pharisee" 
said  he,  "•  the  son  of  a  Pharisee  ;  of  the  hope  and  resur- 
rection of  the  dead  I  am  called  in  question."  Such  a  mani- 
fest reflection  against  the  whole  body  of  Sadducees  cannot 
by  any  means  favor  the  supposition  of  an  intended  apolo- 
gy, or  recantation  in  the  preceding  sentence,  to  soothe  the 
enraged  leader  of  that  very  party,  whom  he  had  publicly 
branded  as  a  hypocrite,  with  the  significant  appellation  of 
tohited  wall  I  Let  it  be  also  remembered  that  the  supposed 
breach  of  the  precept  ("  thou  shalt  not  speak  evil  of  the 
ruler  of  thy  people")  could  not  rest  on  the  circumstance 
of  knowing  Ananias  to  he  the  high  priest ;  for,  whether 
the  apostle  did  know,  or  did  not  know  that  Ananias  was 
high  priest,  yet  he  certainly  knew,  before  he  censured  him, 
that  he  was  a  ruler  of  the  people,  and  that  he  then  sat  in 


116  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

the  quality  of  a  judge  ;  (for  this  is  declared  in  the  very- 
censure  itself— "  sittest  thou  to  judge  me  after  the  law,  and 
commandest  me  to  be  smitten  contrary  to  law  /")   so  that 
whether  Ananias  was  really  high  priest,  or  not,  he  was 
manifestly  censured  in  his  official  capacity  as  a  ruler,  or 
magistrate,  and  not  as  a  private  individual,  through  any 
inadvertency  or  mistake  of  the  apostle,  as  some  commen- 
tators have  conceived.     And,  even  when  the  apostle  was 
informed  by  those  "  that  stood  by,"  that  the   magistrate 
whom  he  had  censured  was  the  high  priest,  ("  revilest  thou 
God's  high  priest?")     Yet  his  reply,  ("  I  knew  not,  bre- 
thren, that  there  is  a  high  priest,")  when  fairly  compared 
with  the  preceding  censure  of  Ananias,  as  an   unjust  dis- 
penser of  God's  law,  ("  sittest  thou  to  judge  me  according 
to  law  V  &c.)  proves,  as  I  before  remarked,  that  the  apos- 
tle neither  acknowledged  the  dignity  of  a  high  priest,  nor 
that  of  a  legal  ruler  in    the  person  of  Ananias,  though 
he  knew  him  at  the  same  time  to  be  a  ruler,  and  had  cen- 
sured him  as  such,  for  having  notoriously  prostituted  the 
power  and  authority  of  a  ruler,  and  violated  the  law,  by 
commanding  him  to  be  stricken  contrary  to  law,  notwith- 
standing, that  he  sat  to  judge  (as  the  apostle  remarked) 
"  according  to  the  law  ;"  in  which  case  no  epithet  whatever 
could  be  so  apt  and  expressive  to  mark  the  true  character 
of  the  dignified  hypocrite  in  power,  as  wliited  wall !  This 
proves,  that  the  apostle  knew  well  enough  with  whom  he 
had  to  do.     The  censure  was  too  just,  and  his  prophecy  in 
the  accomplishment  too  true,  ("  God  shall  smite  thee,  thou 
whited  wall")*  to  be  esteemed  a  mere  unguarded  sally  of 
resentment !     The  latter  supposition  is,  indeed,  inconsis- 
tent with  the  remarkable  sagacity,  prudence,  and  readi- 
ness of  mind,  which  always  distinguished  this  apostle  in 
bearing  his  testimony  to  the  truth,  on  the  most  dangerous 


*  This  denunciation  of  God's  vengeance  against  Ananias  was 
fully  justified  by  the  event ;  for,  Josephus  (as  the  learned  Monsieur 
Martin  remarks)  reports  that  he  was  killed  in  Jerusalem  with  his 
brother  Ezechias.  "  Josephe  rapporte,"  liv.  2.  de  la  guerre  des 
Juifs,  qu'ilfut  ynassacre  dans  Jerusalem  avec  son  fr ere  EzechiasS* 


LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE.  117 

emergencies  !  The  apostle's  known  character  as  a  chosen 
vessel  for  Christ's  service,  and  as  an  exemplary  preacher 
of  righteousness,  will  by  no  means  permit  us  to  conceive 
that  he  was  either  guilty  of  any  mistake  or  inadvertency 
with  respect  to  the  person  of  the  high  priest  on  this  occa- 
sion ;  or  of  any  illegal  or  unbecoming  behavior  to  him 
as  a  ruler  or  judge  of  the  people  !  When  these  several 
circumstances  are  compared  with  the  general  bad  charac- 
ter of  Ananias,*  as  a  persecuting  zealot  of  the  most  virulent 
and  intolerant  sect  among  the  Jews,  it  must  appear  that 
the  apostle  accounted  that  person  unworthy  of  any  esteem 
as  a  magistrate,  whom  he  had  so  publicly  convicted  of 
abusing  and  perverting  the  legal  authority  with  which 
he  had  been  entrusted  ;  and,  indeed,  a  notorious  breach  of 
the  law,  by  any  man  in  the  capacity  of  a  ruler,  may  rea- 
sonably be  esteemed  a  temporary  disqualification  for  such 
an  honorable  trust ;  for,  a  judge  without  justice  and  righ- 
teousness, who  openly  perverts  judgment,  does  thereby 
unquestionably  degrade  himself  from  the  dignity  of  his 
station,  and  render  himself  unworthy,  for  the  time  being, 
of  that  respect  which  is  otherwise  due  to  his  rank  in  of- 
fice. The  same  apostle,  indeed,  upon  another  occasion, 
commands  us  to  give  "  honor  to  whom  honor"  is  due  ;  but 
what  honor  can  be  due  to  a  convicted  hypocrite — a  "  whi- 
ted  wall" — a  "  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing" — to  an  %i  Ana- 
nias on  the  seat  of  judgment  ?"  Such  characters  must 
expect  such  treatment,  as  Ananias  met  with,  from  all 
sensible  and  discerning  men  ;  if  the  latter  are  also  equally 
loyal  with  the  apostle,  I  mean  in  the  strict  and  proper 
sense  of  the  word  loyal,  (which  is  so  frequently  misapplied 
and  perverted  by  sycophants,)  that  is,  if  they  are  equally 
zealous  with  that  apostle  for  law,  justice,  and  righteous- 


t  This  "malicious  Sadducee  very  soon  afterwards  gave  so  fla- 
grant a  proof  of  his  injustice  and  cruelty  towards  the  Christians, 
that  even  the  Jewish  historian,  Josephus,  has  recorded  it  as  an 
event  which  gave  offence  to  all  good  and  loyal  men  at  that  time  in 
Jerusalem  ;  I  mean  the  murder  of  the  apostle  James,  bishop  of  Je- 
rusalem, whom  Josephus  stiles  the  brother  of  Jesus,  who  was 
called  Christ. 

10* 


118  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

ness,  for  the  general  good  of  mankind  !  So  that  if  we 
approve  of  the  apostle's  advice,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
same  sentence,  viz  :  "  Rendering,  therefore,  unto  all  their 
dues'1'' — "  tribute,  unto  whom  tribute, — "  custom  to  whom 
custom" — "fear  to  whorn/ear" — "honor  to  whom  honor;" 
we  must  needs  also  allow,  that  the  apostle's  practice  (even 
in  his  behaviour  to  Ananias)  was  strictly  consistent  with 
his  own  declared  precepts,  and  that  he  most  justly  rendered 
to  Ananias  his  due,  when  he  so  severely  reprimanded  his 
conduct  as  a  judge  !  When  all  these  circumstances  are 
duly  considered,  the  meaning  of  the  apostle's  reply,  may, 
fairly  enough,  be  paraphrased  in  the  words  of  Lorinus,* 


*  "  Nesciebam  eum  esse  pontificem,  quia,  ex  nwdo  loquendi  fu- 
riosi), nonvidetur  esse  pontffex,  sed  tyrannus."  Many  of  the  most 
learned  and  celebrated  commentators  have  considered  the  apostle's 
censure  nearly  in  the  same  light.  In  the  learned  commentary, 
commonly  called  Assembly's  Annotation?,  the  same  sense  is  applied 
to  the  apostle's  reply  to  the  charge  of  having  reviled  God's  high 
priest,  viz  :  "  I  know  him  not  to  be  a  lawful  high  priest,  who  thus 
violateth  the  law  ;  and,  indeed,"  (says  the  Commentary,)  "  he  was 
but  an  usurper."  For  proof  of  which  they  reier  us  to  "  Josephus, 
Ant.  I.  20.  c.  3.  5.  Chr.  Helvic.  Theat.  Hist.  Anno  Christi,  46." 

The  learned  Mathias  Flacius  Francowitz  remarks  that  the  fa- 
mous  Augustine,  bishop  of  Hippo,  thought  this  reply  of  the  apostle 
ironical.  "  and  truly,"  says  he,  "  it  borders  upon  irony  ;  for  when 
he  saw  him  (Ananias)  sit  in  the  chief  pi  ice  among  the  priests,  to 
judge  according  to  the  law,  he  necessarily  knew  him  to  be  the  high 
priest :  for  even  the  little  children  knew  that  by  his  mere  pomp 
and  attendants  ;  and  much  less  could  a  man,  so  watchful  and  dili- 
gent as  Paul,  be  ignorant  of  it ;  the  sense,  therefore,  is,"  says  the 
learned  Francowitz,  "I  do  not  acknowledge,  in  this  man,  the  high 
priest  of  God,  but  a  hypocrite,  a  deceiver,  and  a  persecutor  of  the 
truth.  Otherwise,  I  well  know  that  a  ruler  is  not  to  be  spoken 
against  or  reviled."  To  the  same  effect,  also,  the  learned  Mon- 
sieur Martin — "As  St.  Paul,"  says  he,  "was  not  ignorant,  nor 
could  be  ignorant  that  this  was  the  high  priest,  especially  as  he 
saw  him  at  the  head  of  the  sanhedrim,  it  is  better  to  translate 
the  term  of  the  original,  by  /  did  not  think,  &c.  as  in  Mark  ix.  5. 
and  so  to  understand  this  reply  of  St.  Paul  as  a  grave  and  strong 
irony,  by  which  he  would  make  those  understand,  by  whom  he  was 
accused  of  want  of  respect  for  the  high  priest,  that  this  person 
was  a  man  unworthy  of  that  character,  and  that  he  did  not  believe, 
that  a  vicious  and  wicked  man,  such  as  Ananias,  who  had  usurped 


LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE.  119 

as  I  find  him  quoted  by  Cornelius  a  Lapide,  viz :  "  I  knew 
not  that  he  was  the  high  priest,  because,  from  his  furious 
manner  of  speaking,  he  did  not  seem  to  be  a  high  priest, 
but  a  tyrant."  This  sense  is  strictly  consonant  to  reason 
and  natural  right ! 

Justice  and  righteousness  are  so  inseparably  connected 
with  the  proper  character  of  a  chief  magistrate  or  ruler, 
that  any  notorious  perversion  of  those  necessary  princi- 
ples in  the  actual  exercise  of  that  official  power  with 
which  a  magistrate  is  entrusted  for  legal  (and  not  for  ille- 
gal) purposes,  must  unavoidably  distinguish  the  contempti- 
ble hypocrite,  the  whited  wall,  from  the  honorable  magis- 
trate, and  deprive  the  former  of  the  respect  which  is  due 
only  to  the  latter  !  "  Sittest  thou  to  judge  me  according 
to  the  law,  and  commandedest  me  to  be  smitten  contrary  to 
law  V  Thus  the  apostle  clearly  explained  the  fitness 
and  propriety  of  the  reproachful  figure  of  speech  (whited 
wall,)  by  which  he  had  expressed  the  true  character  of 
the  unworthy  judge  ! 

An  appellation  similar  to  this  was  given,  even  by  our 
Lord  himself,  to  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  who  were  the 
teachers  and  magistrates  of  the  people  :  "  Wo  unto  you, 
Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites ;  for  ye  are  like  unto 
whited  sepulchres,  which,  indeed,  appear  beautiful  out- 
wardly, but  are  within  full  of  dead  men's  bones,  and  of  all 
uncleanness."  Matt,  xxiii.  27. — And,  in  the  context,  he 
calls  them  " blind  guides,"  (v.  24,) — "hypocrites,"  (v.  25,) 
"  full  of  hypocrisy  and  iniquity,"  (v.  28,) — "  partakers  in 

the  pontificate  by  purchasing  it  of  the  Romans,  could  deserve  to  be 
esteemed  as  the  high  priest  of  God  I" 

It  would  be  tedious  to  quote  all  the  authorities  that  may  be 
found  to  this  purpose  ;  the  evidence,  however,  of  the  learned  Dr. 
Whitby,  as  it  includes  more  authorities  than  his  own,  is  worthy  of 
the  reader's  notice.  "  Dr.  Lightfoot  and  Grotius,"  says  he,  "  think 
as  I  do,  that  St.  Paul  does  not  go  about  to  excuse  his  mistake,  but 
rather  saith,  I  know  well  enough  that  God's  high  priest  is  not  to  be 
reviled,  but  that  this  Ananias  is  a  high  priest,  I  know  not,  i.  e.  I 
do  not  own  him  as  such  who  hath  procured  this  title  by  bribery  ; 
our  celebrated  Rabbins  having  declared  that  such  an  one  is  neither 
a  judge,  nor  to  be  honored  as  such,"  &c. 


120  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

the  blood  of  the  prophets,"  (v.  30.) — "  serpents," — "gene- 
ration of  vipers," — "  how  can  he  escape  the  damnation  of 
hell  ?"  &c.  (v.  33.)  Nay,  Herod  himself,  the  tetrarch  ot 
Galilee,  was  not  exempted  from  the  severity  of  our  Lord's 
censure,  when  there  was  a  proper  occasion  to  declare  it ; 
for,  though  our  Lord  lived,  for  the  most  part,  under  He- 
rod's temporal  jurisdiction,  that  is,  in  Galilee,  yet  he 
openly,  characterised  the  crafty,  base,  and  self-interested, 
disposition  of  the  tetrarch,  by  expressly  calling  him  a  fox,* 

*  "  The  message,  our  Lord  here  sends  to  Herod,"  (says  a  sensible 
and  learned  commentator,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Francis  Fox,  in  his  edition 
of  the  New  Testament,  with  references  set  under  the  text  in  words 
at  length,)  "  is  no  breach  of  that  command  which  forbids  the  speak- 
ing evil  of  the  ruler  of  the  people,  and  consequently  is  no  blemish 
(says  he)  in  our  Lord's  example.  For  our  Lord  here  acts  as  a 
prophet,  as  one  who  had  received  an  extraordinary  commission 
from  God  :  and  those,  who  were  truly  prophets,  were,  in  the  exe- 
cution of  their  commission,  above  the  greatest  men  and  most  pow- 
erful princes,  whom  they  were  not  to  spare  when  God  sent  them 
to  reprove  for  sin."  All  this  is  certainly  true  with  respect  to  the 
real  authority  of  Christ  to  censure  Herod,  and  that  his  applying  so 
harsh  and  severe  an  expression  to  the  tetrarch  "  is  no  blemish  in 
our  Lord's  example  :"  but  yet  this  is  not,  I  apprehend,  the  proper 
method  of  reconciling  the  seeming  difficulty,  which  arises  from  this 
example,  of  our  Lord's  applying  a  severe  and  reproachful  epithet  to 
a  chief  ruler,  (in  calling  Herod  a  fox,)  when  it  is  compared  with 
that  precept  of  the  law,  which  forbids  the  speaking  evil  of  the  ruler 
of  the  people  ;  for,  though  our  Lord  had  ample  superiority  and  au- 
thority to  reprove  whomsoever  he  pleased,  even  the  greatest  ruler 
upon  earth,  yet,  with  respect  to  his  own  personal  behaviour,  as  a 
man  among  men,  he  claimed  no  authority  to  dispense  with  the  posi- 
tive precepts  of  the  Mosaic  law,  on  account  of  his  own  real  digni- 
ty, or  superiority  over  the  rest  of  mankind,  but  strictly  obeyed  the 
law  in  all  things,  and  publicly  declared  his  strict  conformity  there- 
to. "  Think  not,"  (said  he,)  "  that  I  come  to  destroy  the  law  or  the 
prophets  :  I  am  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfill."  Matth.  v.  3  7. 

"  By  the  law  and  the  prophets"  (says  the  same  ingenious  com- 
mentator above  cited)  "are  meant  the  great  rules  of  life,  delivered 
in  the  writings  of  Moses  and  the  prophets,  or  in  the  Old  Testament, 
more  especially  the  duties  of  the  moral  or  natural  law  ;"  (from 
whence  those,  respecting  our  behavior  to  rulers,  cannot  with  pro- 
priety be  excluded ;)  "  These,  our  Lord  assures  us,  he  did  not  come 
to  destroy  or  dissolve  :  It  was  not  his  design  to  free  men  from  the 
obligation  they  were  under  to  practise  the  moral  laws  of  God,  but 


LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE.  121 

"  Go  ye,  and  tell  that  fox,"  &c.  Luke  xiii.  32,  and, 
though  our  Lord  endured  the  most  provoking  indigni- 
ties from  the  licentious  soldiery  and  reviling  multitude, 
in  silence,  answering  not  a  word,  agreeable  to  that  stri- 
king character  of  a  suffering  Messiah,  so  minutely  descri- 
bed, many  ages  before,  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,*  yet  ye 
made  an  apparent  distinction  between  the  violence  and  in- 
justice of  these,  as  individuals,  and  the  injustice  of  man  in 
a  public  character,  as  a  chief  magistrate  ;  for  even  in  our 
Lord's  state  of  extreme  humiliation,  when  his  hour  of 
sufferings  was  come,  he  did  not  fail  to  rebuke  the  injustice 
of  the  high  priest  in  his  judicial  capacity,  because,  instead 
of  proceeding  against  him  by  the  legal  method  of  exa- 
mination by  witnesses,  he  had  attempted  to  draw  out  mat- 
ter of  accusation  from  his  own  mouth,  against  himself, 
by  interrogatories,  according  to  the  baneful  method  of  ar- 
bitrary courts ! 

But  our  Lord  soon  put  a  stop  to  his  imperitent  questions, 
by  referring  him  to  the  legal  method  of  finding  evidence 
by  witnesses  : — Why  askest  thou  me  ?  Ask  them  which 
heard  me,  what  I  have  said  unto  them  :  behold,  they  know 
what  I  said."  John  xviii.  21.  Upon  which,  a  time-serv- 
.  ■  ■ —      ■ 

to  fulfil  and  perfect  them.  This  our  Lord  did,  by  living  up  to  those 
laws  himself,"  (which  totally  excludes  the  idea  of  his  dispensing, 
on  account  of  his  own  real  superiority,  with  that  moral  law  respect- 
ing behaviour  to  rulers,)  "  and  becoming  thereby  an  example  to  us, 
by  freeing  them  from  the  corrupt  glosses,  which  the  teachers  among 
the  Jews  put  upon  them,  and  by  expounding  them  in  their  fullest 
sense,  and  according  to  their  just  latitude,  shewing  that  they  com- 
mand not  only  an  outward  obedience,  but  the  obedience  even  of  the 
mind  and  thoughts,  as  appears  in  what  our  Lord  delivers  in  the  fol- 
lowing verses  : — These  laws  have  their  foundation  in  the  reason 
and  nature  of  things,  and  therefore  their  obligations  will  never 
Gease." 

*"He  was  oppressed,  and  he  was  afflicted,  yet  he  opened  not 
his  mouth  :  he  is  brought  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter ;  and,  as  a 
sheep  before  her  shearers  is  dumb,  so  he  opened  not  his  mouth. 
He  was  taken  from  prison,  and  from  judgement :  and  who  shall  de- 
clare his  generation  1  for  he  was  cut  off  out  of  the  land  of  the  living  : 
for  the  transgression  of  my  people  was  he  stricken !  Isaiah  liii.  7,  8, 


122  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

ing,  officer,  who  probably  had  not  accustomed  himself  to 
distinguish  the  different  degrees  of  respect  that  are  due  to 
good  and  bad  magistrates,  "  gave  Jesus  a  blow,  or  rap 
with  a  rod,"  (cSuke pamona  ray  bjoov  )saying,  "  Answerest  thou 
the  high  priest  so  ?"  (v.  22,)  which  open  injustice,  to  a 
person  uncondemned,  (even  while  he  stood  in  the  presence 
of  the  magistrate,  who  ought  to  have  protected  him,)  drew 
a  farther  remonstrance,  even  from  the  meekest  and  hum- 
blest man  that  ever  was  on  earth,  though  the  same  divine 
person  afterwards  suffered  much  greater  indignities  in  si- 
lence !  For,  "  Jesus  answered  him," — "  If  I  have  spo- 
ken evil,"  said  he,  "bear  witness  of  the  evil :  but,  if  well, 
why  smitest  thou  me  ?"  (v.  23.) 

This   showed  that  the  reprehension  of  magistrates  and 
and  their  officers,  for  injustice  and  abuse  of  power,  is  not 
inconsistent  with  the  strictest  rules  of  Christian  passive  obe- 
dience ;  and,  though  the  apostle  Paul,   in  a  similar  case, 
used  much  harsher  language,  yet  his  censure  was  undoubt- 
edly just  and  true,  and  the  severity  of  his  expressions  was 
plainly  justified  (as  I  have  already  shown)  by  the  event ! 
i,   e.   by  the  fatal   catastrophe    of   Ananias.     The  law, 
therefore,  which  forbids  the  speaking  evil  of  the  ruler  of 
the  people,  is  certainly  to  be  understood  with   proper  ex- 
ceptions, so  as  not  to  exclude  any  just  censure  of  rulers, 
when  their  abuse  of  office,  and  the  cause  of  truth  and  jus- 
tice,  may  render  such  censure  expedient  and  seasonable. 
That  the  apostle  Paul  thus  understood  the  text  in  question, 
is  manifest  from  his   manner  of  quoting   it,  when  he  was 
charged  with  reviling  God's  high  priest,  if  the  severity  of 
his  censure   be  compared  with  the  indifference  which  he 
showed,  immediately  afterwards,  towards  the  offended  Sad, 
ducee,  by  openly  professing  himself  to  he  of  an  opposite 
party,   and   by  throwing   an  oblique   charge   against  the 
whole  body  of  Sadducees,  as  the  principal  authors  of  the 
unjust  persecution  against  himself, — "  I  am  a  Pharisee," 
(said  he,)  "  the  son  of  a  Phasieee  ;  of  the  hope  and  resur* 
rection  of  the  dead  am  I  called  in  question."    (Acts  xxiii, 
Of)    Thus  he  manifestly  threw  the  whole  blame  upon  tliQ 


LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE.  123 

Sadducees,  and  thereby  showed  no  inclination  to  apologize 
for  the  severity  of  his  speech  to  their  dignified  chief! 

I  must  further  remark,  that  the  apostle's  behavior,  in 
openly  opposing  the  high  priest,  (who,  as  such,  was  also  a 
chief  magistrate  and  judge,)  is  by  no  means  inconsistent 
with  that  excellent  advice  which  the  same  apostle  has  laid 
down  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  his  epistle  to  the  Romans, 
though  it  is  frequently  cited  by  the  advocates  for  arbitrary 
power,  in  order  to  justify  their  false  notions  concerning  the 
necessity  of  absolute  submission  and  entire  passive  obe- 
dience ? 

To  an  inattentive  reader,  indeed,  the  apostle's  expres- 
sion may  seem  too  much  to  favour  such  doctrines,  if  the 
sense  and  connextion  of  the  whole  context  are  not  care- 
fully weighed  together  :  but  though  he  said — "  Let  every 
soul  be  subject  unto  the  higher  powers.  For  there  is  no 
power  but  of  God  :  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of 
God.  Whosoever,  therefore,  resisteth  the  power,  resist- 
eth  the  ordinance  of  God  :  and  they,  that  resist,  shall  re- 
ceive to  themselves  damnation."  Yet  he  immediately  af- 
terwards signifies  what  kind  of  rulers  he  spoke  of  "  that 
were  not  to  be  resisted."  "  For  rulers"  (says  he,  in  the 
very  next  verse,)  "  are  not  a  terror  to  good  works,  hut  to 
the  evil.  Wilt  thou  then  not  be  afraid  of  the  power'?  do 
that  which  is  good,  and  thou  shalt  have  praise  of  the  same  ; 
for  he  is  the  minister  of  God  to  thee  for  good."  (But  An- 
anias, as  a  ruler,  was  certainly  the  very  reverse  of  this 
description,  so  that  the  practice  of  the  apostle  with  respect 
to  him,  was  by  no  means  opposite  to  this  doctrine.)  "  But" 
(says  he)  "  if  thou  do  that  which  is  evil,  be  afraid  ;  for  he 
beareth  not  the  sword  in  vain  :  for  he  is  the  minister  of 
God,  a  revenger  to  (execute)  wrath  upon  him  that  doeth 
evil.  Wherefore  (ye)  must  needs  be  subject,  not  only  for 
wrath,  but  also  for  conscience  sake.  For  this  cause  pay 
ye  tribute  also  :  for  they  are  God's  ministers,  attending 
continually  upon  this  very  thing.  Render,  therefore,  to 
all  their  dues  :  tribute,  to  whom  tribute  (is  due ;)  custom, 
to  whom  custom;  fear  to  whom  fear;  honor  to  whom 


124  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

honor."  (Romans  xiii.  1  to  7.)  Now,  be  pleased  to  re- 
mark, that  the  apostle  has  expressly  and  repeatedly  as- 
signed the  reason  why  so  much  respect  and  obedience  is 
due  to  the  higher  powers,  or  to  the  ruler,  or  magistrate  ; 
M  for  he  is"  (says  the  apostle)  "  the  minister  of  God  to  thee 
for  good"  &c.  ;  and  again — "  for  he  is  the  minister  of  God,  a 
revenger  to  execute  wrath  upon  him  that  doeth  evil  :"  and 
again — "for  they  are  God's  ministers ;"  that  is,  they  are 
God's  ministers  while  they  maintain  justice  and  righteous- 
ness in  the  execution  of  their  public  charge,  howsoever  de- 
ficient their  characters  may  be  in  other  respects,  as  private- 
individuals  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  such  an  unjust  ruler 
as  Ananias,  for  instance,  who  sat  to  judge  according  to  law, 
and  yet  commanded  a  person  to  be  beaten  contrary  to  laic, 
such  a  ruler,  I  say,  cannot  be  esteemed  a  minister  of  God 
to  us  for  good,  or  a  minister  of  God  in  any  respect  what- 
soever. A  man,  who  is  notoriously  guilty  of  perverting 
the  laws,  and  of  abusing  the  delegated  power,  with  which 
he  is  entrusted,  by  acts  of  violence  and  injustice,  is  so  far 
from  being  "  the  minister  of  God,"  that  he  is  manifestly 
"  the  minister  of  the  devil ;"  which  is  the  express  doctrine 
of  the  common  law  of  this  kingdom,  according  to  the  most 
approved  and  most  ancient  authorities ;  wherein  we  find  it 
applied  not  merely  to  inferior  rulers,  but  to  the  supreme 
magistrate,  even  to  the  king  himself,*  if  he  rules  contrary 

*  The  celebrated  and  learned  Henry  de  Bracton  says, — "that  a 
king  can  do  nothing  else  upon  earth,  as  he  is  the  minister  and  vicar 
of  God,  but  that  only  which  by  law  he  may  do,"  &c.  And,  a  little 
further,  he  adds, — "  His  power,  therefore,"  (says  he)  "  is  of  right, 
(or  law,)  and  not  of  wrong,  (or  injury,)  &c." — "  That  a  king  ought, 
therefore,  to  exercise  the  power  of  right,  (or  law,)  as  the  vicar 
and  minister  of  God  on  earth,  because  that  power  is  of  God  alone  ; 
but  the  power  of  wrong  (or  injury)  is  of  the  devil,  and  not  of  God, 
and  the  work  of  which  soever  of  these  the  king  shall  do,  of  him 
he  is  the  minister  whose  work  he  shall  do.  While,  therefore,  he 
does  justice,  he  is  the  vicar  (or  minister)  of  the  eternal  king  ;  but 
he  is  the  minister  of  the  devil  while  he  turns  aside  to  injustice,  for 
he  is  called  king  (rex)  from  well  ruling,  and  not  from  reigning  ; 
because  he  is  king  while  he  rules  well,  but  a  tyrant  while  he  op- 
presses the  people  committed  to   hie  charge  with  violent  (or  op- 


LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE.  125 

to  law,  by  violating,  corrupting,  or  perverting,  in  any  re- 
spect, the  powers  of  government !  And  that  excellent 
constitutional  lawyer,  Lord  Sommers,  informs  us,  that  St. 
Edward's  law  even  goes  further,*  viz :  "  That,  unless  the 
king  performs  his  duty,  and  answers  the  end  for  which  he 
was  constituted,  not  so  much  as  the  name  of  a  king  shall 
remain  in  him."  Now,  when  these  constitutional  principles 
of  the  English  law  are  collated  and  duly  compared  with 
the  precepts  before  cited  from  the  apostle  Paul,  they  are 
so  far  from  being  contradictory,  that  the  full  and  clear 
meaning  of  them  all  may  be  maintained  together  without 
the  least  inconsistency  or  discrepance  of  doctrine ;  for  we. 
may  surely  say,  with  the  apostle,  "  Render  to  all  their 
dues,"  &c.  without  seeming  to  favour  the  pernicious  and 
dangerous  doctrine  of  an  unlimited  passive  obedience  ! 
"  Render,  therefore,  to  all  their  dues ;  tribute,  to  whom 
tribute  (is  due)  ;  custom,  to  whom  custom  ;  fear,  to  whom 
fear  ;  honor,  to  whom  honor." — For,  though  custom,  tri- 
bute, fear,  and  honor,  are  certainly  due  to  him  who  is  the 
minister  of  God  to  us  for  good,  yet,  surely,  no  honor  is 
due,  or  ought  to  be  rendered,  to  the  minister  of  the  devil, 
to  the  perjured  violator  of  a  public  trust,  who,  in  the  eye 
of  the  English  law,  is  not  even  worthy  of  "so  much  as 
the  name  of  a  king !" 

Fear,  indeed,   may  too'  often  be  said  to  be  due  to  such 

pressive)  government."  "  Nihil  enim  aliad  potest  rex  in  terris, 
cum  sit  Dei  minister  et  vicarius,  nisi  id  solum  quod  de  jure  potest, 
&c.  Potestas  itaque  sua  juris  est,  et  non  injuriee,  &c.  Exercere 
igitur  debet  rex  potestatem  juris,  ficut  Dei  vicarius  et  minis- 
ter in  terra,  quia  ilia  potestas  solius  Dei  est,  potestas  autem  injuriae 
diaboli,  non  Dei ;  et  cujus  horum  opera  fecerit  rex,  ejus  minister 
erit,  cujus  opera  fecerit.  Igitur  durn  facit  justitiam,  vicarius  est 
regis  seterni ;  minister  autem  diaboli,  dum  declinet  ad  ir.juriam. 
Dicitur  enim  rex  a  bene  regendo  et  non  a  regnando,  quia  rex  est 
dum  bene  regit,  tyrannus  dum  populum  sibi  creditum  violenta  op- 
primit  dominatione."  Henrici  de  Bracton  de  Legibus  et  Consue- 
tudinibus  Angliae  lib.  iii.  c.  ix.  And  nearly  the  same  doctrine  in 
substance  is  laid  down  in  Fleta,  lib.  i.  c.  17. 

*  The  judgment  of  whole  kingdoms  and  nations,  concerning  the 
rights,  power,  and  prerogative,  of  kings,  and  the  rights,  privileges, 
and  properties,  of  the  people,  &c.     See  the  51st  paragraph. 

11 


126  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

men  when  in  power;  but  it  is  a  very  different  sort  of  fear 
from  that  reverential  fear  which  is  due  to  him  who  "  is  the 
minister  of  God  to  us  for  good  !"  It  is  such  a  fear  only  as 
that,  which  men  have  of  a  wild  beast  that  devours  the 
flock  !  He  is  fierce  and  strong,  say  they,  and,  therefore, 
each  individual,  through  fear  of  personal  inconvenience  to 
himself,  is  induced  to  wink  at  the  ruinous  depredations 
made  upon  his  neighbors  and  brethren,  so  that,  for  want  of 
a  prudent  and  timely  opposition,  the  voracious  animal 
(which  in  a  state  is  a  many  headed  monster)  becomes 
stronger  and  more  dangerous  to  the  community  at  large, 
till  the  unwary  time-servers  themselves  perceive  (when  it 
is  too  late)  that,  by  their  own  selfish  connivance,  respec- 
tively, as  individuals,  they  have  been  accessaries  to  the 
general  ruin  ;  and,  as  such,  must  one  day  be  answerable 
to  God  for  their  shameful  breach  of  that  law  of  liberty, * 
("  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself,")  in  which  we 
are  assured  all  the  law  is  fulfilled,"!-  and  by  which  we  are 
also  assured,  we  shall  .be  judged  !:j: 

This  heavenly  principle  is  the  true  and  proper  ground 
for  patriotism,  and  undoubted ly  has  always  been  the  pre- 
dominant motive  of  great  and  good  men,  (such  as  the  dis- 
interested and  loyal  apostle  Paul,  following  his  Lord's  ex- 
ample,) in  their  opposition  to  the  injustice  of  rulers  and 
magistrates,  though  they  passively  submit  to  personal  in- 
juries from  other  hands  !  for,  in  this,  as  I  have  already  re- 
marked, consists  the  due  distinction  between  the  necessary 
Christian  submission  to  personal  injuries,  and  the  doctrine 
of  an  unlimited  passive  obedience. 

The  subjection  and  obedience  to-magistrates,  enjoined  by 
the  same  apostle  in  his  Epistle  to  Titus,  (c.  hi.  1,)  must 
certainly  be  understood  with  the  same  necessary  limita- 
tions,— "  Put  them  in  mind,"  says  the  apostle,  "  to  be  sub- 
ject  to  principalities  and   powers,  to  obey  magistrates," 

*  See  my  tract  on  the  Law  of  Liberty. 

t  "  For  all  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  one  word,  even  in  this  ;  thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."     Galatians,  v.  14. 

X  "  So  speak  ye,  and  so  do,  as  they  that  shall  be  judged  by  the 
law  of  liberty."     James  ii.  12. 


LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE.  127 

(xaSapxuv,  says  he,  but  then  he  immediately  subjoins,)  "  to 
be  ready  to  every  good  work." — and  no  man  can  be  es- 
teemed "  ready  to  every  good  work,"  if  he  is  obedient  to 
magistrates  when  their  commands  exceed  the  due  limits  of 
the  law  ;  or  if  (contrary  to  the  example  of  the  apostle 
himself)  he  neglects  a  fair  opportunity  of  publicly  dis- 
countenancing and  censuring  any  notorious  perversion  of 
justice  and  right  by  a  magistrate  ! 

The  same  necessary  limitation  of  the  doctrine  of  obe- 
dience must  also  be  understood  when  we  read  the  exhor- 
tation of  another  apostle  on  this  head,  viz  :  "  Submit 
yourselves  to  every  ordinance  of  man  for  the  Lord's  sake  : 
whether  it  be  to  the  king,  as  supreme  ;  or  unto  governors, 
as  unto  them  that  are  sent  by  him  for  the  punishment  of 
evil  doers,  and  for  the  praise  of  them  that  do  well.  "  For 
so  is  the  will  of  God,  that  with  well-doing  ye  may  put  to 
silence  the  ignorance  of  foolish  men :  as  free,  and  not 
using  (your)  liberty  for  a  cloak  of  maliciousness,  but  as 
the  servants  of  God  !"  (1  Peter  il.  13 — 16.)  Governors 
are  here  declared  to  be  sent  for  the  punishment  of  evil 
doers,  and  for  the  praise  of  them  that  do  well ;  to  such, 
therefore,  as  answer  this  description,  the  submission  and 
honor  enjoined  in  the  context  are  undoubtedly  due  ;  but, 
whenever  the  governors  themselves  become  the  evil  do- 
ers, and,  like  Ananias,  instead  of  praising  and  encoura- 
ging "  them  to  do  well,"  do  notoriously  abuse,  oppress, 
and  murder  them,  as  he  did,*  it  would  be  a  manifest  per- 

*  The  apostle  Paul  was  so  far  from  retracting  any  part  of  his  se- 
vere censure  and  remonstrance  against  Ananias,  that  he  afterwards 
(before  Felix)  defied  Ananias  and  the  rest  of  his  accusers  to  show 
that  he  had  been  guilty  of  any  the  least  misdemeanor  ever  since  his 
last  arrival  at  Jerusalem,  and  more  particularly  while  "he  stood 
before  the  council,"  (meaning  the  time  when  he  foretold  that  God 
should  smite  that  whited  wall,  Ananias,)  "  or  else"  (said  he  to  Fe- 
lix) "  let  these  same  here  say,"  (meaning  the  high  priest  Ananias, 
the  elders,  and  their  orator,  Tertullus,  mentioned  in  the  first  verse 
of  the  chapter,)  "  if  they  have  found  any  evil  doing  in  me  while  I 
stood  before  the  council,  except  it  be  for  this  one  voice,"  (now  he 
once  more  provokes  the  malicious  Sadducee,)  "  that  I  cried,  stand- 
ing among  them,  Touching  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  I  am  called 
in  question  by  you  this  day."    (Acts  xxiv.  20.)     This  is  a  manifest 


128  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

version  of  the  text  to  suppose  that  we  are  required  there- 
by to  "  submit  ourselves  to  every  ordinance  of  man,"* 
without  admitting  such  just  and  necessary  exceptions  to 

declaration  that  there  was  nothing  reprehensible  either  in  his  beha- 
vior or  words  on  that  day  "before  the  council,"  because  his  decla- 
ration concerning  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  was  the  only  one 
voice  (or  expression)  which  he  supposed  these  Sadducees  could 
call  in  question  and  lay  to  his  charge! 

*  The  apostles  and  disciples  of  Christ  were  so  far  "  from  submit- 
ing  themselves  to  every  ordinance  of  man,"  that  they  boldly  reject- 
ed the  unjust  commands  even  of  the  high  priest  and  the  whole  na- 
tional council  of  the  Jewish  state  !  The  great  council,  called  Sanhe- 
drim, i.  e.  awsSpiov,  (the  commands  of  which  they  rejected,)  inclu- 
ded at  that  time  all  persons  of  their  nation  that  bore  any  public  au- 
thority or  dignity  among  them,  for  the  text  expressly  informs  us 
that  "their  rulers,  and  elders,  and  scribes,  and  Annas,  the  high 
priest,"  (and  the  high  priests  since  the  time  of  the  Maccabees  were 
generally  considered  as  a  sort  of  princes,)  "and  Caiaphas,  and  John, 
and  Alexander,  and  as  many  as  were  of  the  kindred  of  the  high 
priest,  were  gathered  together  at  Jerusalem." 

No  power,  therefore,  amongst  the  Jews,  could  be  more  respect- 
able (in  ;egard  to  temporal  authority)  than  this  great  national  coun- 
cil :  and  ihe  apnstle  Pefftr  accordingly  acknowledged  their  legal 
authority  at  first,  by  respectfully  addressing  them,  saying, — "  Ye 
rulers  of  the  people  and  elders  of  Israel,"  &c. 

Yet,  notwitstanding  the  temporal  authority  of  this  awful  assem- 
bly of  rulers  and  elders,  (or  senators,)  they  were  publicly  disregard- 
ed and  contradicted  by  the  apostles  even  in  their  presence,  upon 
the  very  first  proposal  of  an  unreasonable  and  unlawful  ordinance  ; 
for  "they  called  them,"  (the  apostles,)  "  and  commanded  them  not 
to  speak  at  ali,  nor  teach  in  the  name  of  Jesus." — But  "Peter  and 
John  answered  and  said  unto  them,  whether  it  be  right  in  the  sight 
of  God  to  hearken  unto  you  more  than  unto  God,  judge  ye.  For  we 
cannot  but  speak  the  things  we  have  seen  and  heard."  (Acts  iv.  19 
and  20.)  And  afterwards,  when  they  were  brought  a  second  time 
before  the  said  great  council  to  answer  for  their  breach  of  this  "  or- 
dinance of  man,"  "the  high  priest  asked  them,  saying,  did  not,  we 
straightly  command  you  that  you  should  not  teach  in  this  name, 
and  behold  ye  have  filled  Jerusalem  with  your  doctrine,  and  intend 
to  bring  this  man's  blood  upon  us.  Then  Peter  and  the  other  Apos- 
tle answered  and  said, — We  ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  men,"  &c. 
This  sentence,  in  effect,  holds  good  with  respect  also  to  the  rejec- 
tion of  every  public  ordinance  that  is  contrary  to  reason,  justice,  or 
natural  equity,  as  well  as  those  that  are  contrary  to  the  written 
word  of  God !  This  I  have  shown  more  at  large  in  my  declaration 
of  the  people's  right, 


LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE.  129 

the  doctrine  as  I  have  already  cited  from  the  example  of 
the  apostle  Paul,  and  even  from  that  of  our  Lord  himself. 
And,  therefore,  though  the  apostle  Peter  adds, — "Ho- 
nor all  (men)  :  love  the  brotherhood  :  fear  God  :  honor 
"  the  king :"  yet  he  must  necessarily  be  understood  to 
mean,  with  the  apostle  Paul,  that  we  must  render  "  honor 
to  whom  honor"  is  due,  and  not  to  honor  such  men  and 
such  kings  as  are  unworthy  of  honor  !* 

*  To  the  example  of  the  patriotic  apostle,  Paul,  upon  this  point, 
I  must  now  add  that  of  another  chosen  vessel  of  Christ,  the  proto- 
martyr  Stephen  :  this  excellent  man,  "  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
wisdom,"  (Acts  vi.  3,)  "  full  of  faith  and  power,"  (v.  8,)  "  and  whose 
wisdom  and  spirit  none  were  able  to  resist:"  (v.  10,) — This  excel- 
lent man,  I  say,  has  left  us  by  his  own  example  an  unquestionable 
precedent  on  record  to  demonstrate  that  honour  is  not  due  to  the 
highest  temporal  authority  on  earth,  not  even  to  a  great  national 
council  of  rulers  and  elders,  while  they  exercise  their  authority  in 
unjust  prosecutions,  and  abuse  their  power  by  enacting  unreasona- 
ble and  tyrannical  ordinances.  The  great  council  of  the  Jewish 
state  had  been  "  straightly  commanded"  the  apostles  and  disciples 
of  Christ  (as  I  have  already  remarked  in  a  preceding  note)  "not  to 
speak  at  all,  nor  teach  in  the  name  of  Jesus  ;"  which  command,  k 
seems,  was  given  lest  their  preaching  should  "bring  this  man's 
blood". (said  the  high  priest,  meaning  the  blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus) 
"  upon  us  :"  but  Stephen  paid  so  little  regard  either  to  the  unlawful 
command  itself,  or  to  the  reason  of  it,  that  he  afterwards  publicly 
upbraided  the  whole  council,  with  the  high  priest  at  the  head  of  it, 
(in  the  most  stimulating  and  unreserved  terms,)  as  the  betrayers  and 
murderers  of  the  just  One  ! — "  Ye  stiff-necked,  and  uncircumcised 
in  heart  and  ears,"  (said  he  to  their  faces  in  the  public  assembly,) 
H  ye  do  always  resist  the  Holy  Ghost :  as  your  fathers  (did,)  so  (do) 
ye.  Which  of  the  prophets  have  not  your  fathers  persecuted  ?  And 
they  have  slain  them  which  showed  before  of  the  coming  of  the  just 
One,  of  whom  ye  have  been  now  the  betrayers  and  murderers," 
&c.  (Acts  vii.  51  and  52.)  Words  could  not  well  be  sharper  than 
these,  which  is  manifest  from  their  effect ;  for  the  text  testifies  that 
"  when  they  heard  these  things  they  were  cut  to  the  heart,  and  they 
gnashed  on  him  with  (their)  teeth."  (v.  54.)  Thus  it  clearly  ap- 
pears that  the  holy,  innocent  and  meek  Stephen  did  not  think  him- 
self bound  (like  our  undistinguishing  passive-obedience  men)  to 
"  submit  to  every  ordinance  of  man,"  &c.  nor  to  "  honor  all  men," 
without  making  reasonable  and  due  exceptions  !  Nay,  so  far  from 
honoring  men  merely  on  account  of  their  temporal  dignity,  it  is 
manifest  that  he  treated  the  whole  body  of  rulers  with  the  utmost 
severity  and  contempt,  while  he  thought  them  unworthy  of  honor, 

11* 


130  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

But  what  men  (it  will  be  said)  are  to  be  esteemed  the 
proper  judges  of  desert  m  such  cases,  so  as  to  determine 
with   propriety  when  honor  is  or  is  not  to  be  rendered  ? 
To  which  I  answer — Every  man  is  a  judge  of  it  if  he  be 
not  an  idiot  or  mad  man  !    Every  man  of  common  sense 
can  distinguish  justice  from   injustice,  right  from   wrong, 
honorable  from  dishonorable,  whenever  he   happens  to  be 
an  eye  or  ear  witness  of  the  proper  circumstances  of  evi- 
dence for  such  a  judgment  !  Every  man,  (except  as  above,) 
be  he  ever  so  poor  and  mean  with  respect  lo  his  rank  in 
this  life,  inherits  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  or  rea- 
son, from  the  common  parents  of  mankind,  and  is  thereby 
rendered  answerable  to   God  for   all  his  actions,  and  an- 
swerable to  man  for  many  of  them! 

In  this  hereditary  knowledge,  and  in  the  proper  use  of 
it,  (according  to  the  different  stations  of  life  in  which  men 
subsist  in  this  world,)  consists  the  equality  of  all  mankind 
in  the  sight  of  God,  and  also  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  I  mean 
the  common  law  and  rules  of  natural  justice,  which  are 
formed  upon  the  self-evident  conclusions  of  human  reason, 
and  are  the  necessary  result  of  the  above  mentioned  he- 
reditary knowledge  in  man.  Every  man  knows,  by  what 
we  call  conscience,  (which  is  only  an  effect  of  human  rea- 
son upon  the  mind,)  whether  his  own  actions  deserve  the 
censure  of  the  magistrate,  who  "  bears  not  the  sword  in 
vain  !"  And  the  same  principle  of  hereditary  knowledge 
euables  him  to  judge  also  concerning  the  outward  actions 
of  other  men,  whether  they  be  just  or  unjust  ;  whether 
they  be  praiseworthy  or  censurable  ! 

But,  if  a  man  abuses  his  own  natural  reason,  and  suffers 
himself  to  be  blinded  by  private  interest,  by  passion,  or 
unreasonable  resentment,  or  by  pride,  envy,  or  personal 
partiality,  and  is  thereby  led  to  misconstrue  the  actions 
of  his  superiors,  to  behave  unseemly  towards  them,  and 
to  censure  them  publicly  without  a  just  cause,  the  con- 
science of  such   an  offender  against  reasun  will  speedily 


and  yet  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  he  most  conscientiously,  on  every 
occasion,  rendered  "honor  to  whom  honor"  was  due! 


LAW    OP    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE.  131 

inform  him  that  he  has  cause  to  fear  the  magistrate,  and 
that  he  is  liable  to  suffer  for  his  misbehavior  "  as  an  evil 
doer :"  but,  when  the  like  faults  are  discoverable  on  the 
other  side,  that  is,  on  the  side  of  the  superior  or  magis- 
trate, (as  it  happened  in  the  case  of  Ananias,)  a  just  cen- 
sure of  the  unjust  magistrate,  even  though  it  comes  from 
the  poorest  and  meanest  man  that  happens  to  be  present, 
will  have  its  due  weight  in  the  opinion  of  all  unprejudiced 
and  disinterested  persons,  and  may  occasion  a  considerable 
check  to  the  progress  of  injustice  ;  and,  therefore,  if  any 
man  neglects  such  an  opportunity  (when  he  has  it  in  his 
power)  of  making  a  personal  protest  (as  Paul  did)  against 
the  public  injustice  of  a  wicked  magistrate,  he  strengthens 
the  hand  of  iniquity  by  his  timidity  and  remissness,  and 
becomes  accessary  to  the  public  disgrace  by  refusing  his 
endeavors,  according  to  his  abilities,  (howsoever  small,)  to 
vindicate  the  laws  of  God,  and  maintain  the  common  rights 
of  his  neighbors  and  brethren.  Such  an  one  unhappily  de- 
monstrates that  he  has  more  fear  of  man  than  of  God,  and 
much  more  love  for  himself  than  he  has  for  his  neighbor 
and  country,  and,  consequently,  in  that  awful  day,  when  he 
"shall  be  judged  by  the  law  of  liberty,''*  must  be  liable, 
(unless  a  timely  repentance  should  have  previously  resto- 
red him  to  a  better  use  of  that  hereditary  knowledge  for 
which  all  men  are  accountable,)  must  be  liable,  I  say,  to 
be  cast  with  the  unprofitable  servant  into  outer  darkness  : 
there  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth !"  Matt  . 
xxv.  30. 

Ail  men,  therefore,  be  they  ever  so  rich,  or  ever  so  poor 
and  mean,  are  required  to  vindicate  the  cause  of  truth, 
justice,  and  righteousness,  whenever  they  have  a  favour- 
able opportunity  of  doing  so ;  they  are  required,  I  say, 
because  they  are  enabled  by  their  natural  knowledge  of 
good  and  evil  to  discern  and  judge  concerning  the  fitness 
or  unfitness  of  human  actions,  and  of  the  justice  or  injus- 
tice of  all  measures  and  proceedings  that  happen  to  fall 
within  the  reach  of  their  inspection  and  consequent  obser- 

*  James  ii.  12.     See  also  my  tract  on  the  law  of  liberty. 


132  LAW    OF    PASSIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

vation.  He,  who  denies  this,  is  ignorant  of  the  true  dig- 
nity of  human  nature,  and  wants  a  teacher  to  point  out  to 
him  not  only  the  equality  of  mankind  before  God,  but  also 
the  universal  conditions  of  man's  subsistence  in  the  world! 
The  hereditary  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  may.  at  least, 
be  esteemed  as  the  one  talent  for  which  all  mankind  are 
accountable  to  the  universal  Lord  ?  And,  therefore,  if  they 
wilfully  abuse  or  bury  this  talent,  they  have  surely  nothing 
to  expect  but  the  condemnation  above  mentioned  of  the 
unprofitable  servant ! 

Shall  we  blame  the  patriotic  apostle,  then,  for  his  zeal 
in  vindicating  the  natural  rights  of  mankind  against  an  un- 
just judge,  when  he  had  so  fair  an  opportunity  of  protest- 
ing against  his  iniquity  ?  God  forbid  !  Let  us,  on  the  con- 
trary, revere  his  example,  which,  in  reality,  affords  no  op- 
position to  the  doctrine  laid  down  in  the  beginning  of  this 
tract  concerning  the  necessity  of  "  Christian  submission  to 
personal  injuries."  If  he,  sometimes,  freely  and  coura- 
geously expressed  his  resentment  for  personal  ill  usage,  it 
was  always  in  vindication  of  the  law,  on  which  (next  to 
the  providence  of  God)  the  safety,  liberty,  and  happiness,  of 
the  community  depend  ;  whereas,  the  hasty  revenger  of 
his  own  cause  is  so  far  from  being  a  friend  to  the  commu- 
nity, or  a  lover  of  liberty,  that  he  himself  is  actually  a  ty- 
rant ;  because  he  neglects  the  necessary  doctrine  of 
"  Christian  submission  to  personal  injuries,"  and  on  every 
occasion  is  ready  to  revenge  his  own  cause  with  his  own 
hand,  and  to  usurp  all  the  distinct  offices  of  judge,  jury, 
and  executioner  !  He  is  so  far  from  vindicating  the  law, 
like  the  generous  and  patriotic  apostle,  for  the  sake  of  na- 
tional liberty,  that  he  manifestly  sets  himself  up  above  the 
law,  (which  is  the  first  characteristic  of  a  tyrant,)  and 
thereby  renders  himself  in  fact  an  open  enemy  to  liberty, 
and  consequently  a  disgrace  to  society ! 

GRANVILLE  SHARP. 

"  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest ! 
And  on  Earth — Peace, 
Good  will  towards  men  !" 


AN    EXTRACT 


FROM 


THE    LAW  OF   RETRIBUTION. 

BY    GRANVILLE     SHARP. 
Published  in  1776. 


The  African  slave  trade  has  been  publicly  support- 
ted  and  encouraged  by  the  Legislature  of  this  kingdom 
for  near  a  century  last  past ;  so  that  the  monstrous  de- 
struction of  the  human  species  which  is  annually  occa- 
sioned thereby,  may  certainly  be  esteemed  a  national 
crime  of  the  most  aggravating  kind,  which  (according  to 
the  usual  course  of  God's  Providence  in  the  world)  will 
probably  draw  down  some  exemplary  vengeance  upon  the 
unrepenting  inhabitants  of  this  island  !  And,  with  respect 
to  the  British  colonies  the  uncharitable  practice  of  slave- 
holding,  especially  in  the  West-India  Islands  and  the  more 
Southern  Colonies,  is  grown  up  into  a  more  enormous  and 
destructive  oppression  (whether  we  view  the  prodigious 
multitudes  of  the  oppressed,  or  the  unconscionable  severity 
of  the  oppresors)  than  perhaps  ever  disgraced  any  other 
nation  at  any  one  period  of  time  ! 

The  several  attempts  that  have  lately  been  made  to  jus- 
tify these  two  branches  of  abominable  national  iniquity  by 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  especially   by   the   permission 


134  LAW  OF    RETRIBUTION. 

therein  granted  to  the  Iraelites  to  purchase  and  retain 
slaves  among  them,  have  induced  me  to  collect,  from  the 
history  of  the  Jews  in  several  books  of  Holy  Scripture, 
some  plain  examples  of  God's  vengeance  upon  that  par- 
ticular nation,  expressly  for  this  kind  of  oppression  ;  which, 
I  hope,  will  sufficiently  prove  that  slavery  was  ever  detes- 
table in  the  sight  of  God,  and  consequently  that  a  speedy 
reformation  is  absolutely  necessary,  as  well  with  respect 
to  the  African  slave  trade,  encouraged  in  this  kingdom,  as 
the  toleration  of  slavery  in  the  British  American  domin- 
ions, if  we  mean  to  entertain  the  least  hope  of  escaping  a 
severe  national  retribution,  which,  if  we  may  judge  by 
our  present  civil  dissentions  and  horrid  mutual  slaughters 
of  national  brethren,  seem  ready  to  burst  upon  us  ! 

I  am  well  aware,  indeed,  how  very  unfashionable  it  is, 
now-a-days,  to  quote  Scripture,  when  matters  of  law,  poli- 
tics, or  trade  are  called  in  question  ;  yet  I  flatter  myself 
that  the  following  examples,  drawn  from  thence,  are  per- 
fectly suitable  to  my  present  point,  and  consequently  must 
have  weight  to  convince  all  persons,  who  sincerely  ac- 
knowledge the  truth  of  the  Scriptures,  that  we  have  the 
greatest  reason  to  apprehend  the  infliction  of  some  heavy 
judgment  from  Almighty  God  upon  these  kingdoms,  on 
account  of  the  monstrous  load  of  guilt  which  the  British 
subjects,  on  each  side  of  the  Atlantic  have  incurred  by  the 
oppressions  above  mentioned. 

In  some  former  tracts  I  have  already  shown  that  the  ser- 
vitude which  the  Jews,  by  the  Mosaic  Law,  were  permit- 
ted to  exact  of  their  brethren,  even  when  the  latter  were 
sold  to  them,  was  very  much  limited  ;  that  they  were  not 
to  be  treated  as  bond  servants,  (Levit.  xxv.  39,  40.)  but 
as  hired  servants  ;  that  the  servitude  could  not  lawfully  be 
extended  beyond  seven  years  (Exod.  xxi.  2.)  unless  the 
servant  loved  his  master  and  condition,  and  voluntarily 
demanded  (Exod.  xxi.  5,  6,)  of  him  to  be  continued  in  his 
service  ;  and  that,  in  every  other  case,  it  was  absolutely 
unlawful  to  hold  a  brother  Hebrew  in  slavery. 

I  have  likewise  shown,  that,  under  the  glorious  dispensa- 
tion of  the  gospel,  we  are  absolutely  bound  to  consider 


LAW  OF    RETRIBUTION.  135 

ourselves  as  citizens  of  the  world  ;  that  every  man  what- 
ever, without  any  partial  distinction  of  nation,  distance,  or 
complexion,  must  necessarily  be  esteemed  our  neighbor, 
and  our  brother ;  and  that  we  are  absolutely  bound  in 
Christian  duty  to  entertain  a  disposition  towards  all  man- 
kind  as  charitable  and  benevolent,  at  least,  as  that  which 
was  required  of  the  Jews,  under  the  law,  towards  their 
national  brethren  ;  and,  consequently,  that  it  is  absolutely 
unlawful  for  those,  who  call  themselves  Christians,  to  exact 
of  their  brethren  (I  mean  their  brethren  of  the  universe) 
a  more  burthensome  service  than  that  to  which  the  Jews 
were  limited  with  respect  to  their  brethren  of  the  house  of 
Israel  ;  and  the  slavery,  or  involutary  bondage,  of  a  bro- 
ther Israelite  was  absolutely  forbid. 

These  premises  naturally  lead  us  to  consider  the  severe 
national  judgments  which  the  Jews  brought  upon  them- 
selves principally  by  exceeding  these  very  limitations 
which  1  have  here  specified  ;  and  the  inevitable  conclusion 
to  be  drawn  from  these  examples  is,  that  we  are  absolutely 
in  danger  of  the  like  judgments,  if  we  do  not  immediately 
put  a  stop  to  all  similar  oppression  by  national  authority  : 
because  an  uncharitable  extension  of  the  said  limits,  by  those 
who  call  themselves  Christians,  will  certainly  be,  at  least, 
as  heinous  in  the  sight  of  God  as  the  oppression  of  breth- 
ren under  the  law  ;  and  probably  much  more  so,  if  we  con- 
sider the  purity  and  benevolence  which  is  required  of  all 
men  under  the  gospel  dispensation  :  and  I  have  clearly 
proved  (I  trust)  that  the  permission  to  the  Israelites,  to 
keep  bondmen  of  the  heathen  (or  more  properly  the  nations, 
CD^:n)  that  were  round  about  them,  and  of  "  the  chil- 
dren of  the  strangers  that  dwelt  among  them,"  cannot  be 
extended  to  any  other  people,  whatever,  except  the  Israel- 
ites themselves ;  and  that  even  to  them  it  was  only  tempo- 
porary,  during  the  dispensation  of  the  Mosaic  Law,  whilst 
they  possessed  the  land  of  Canaan,  the  former  inhabitants  of 
which  (viz.  the  seven  abominable  nations  of  Palestine,  ex- 
pressly mentioned  by  name  in  the  seventh  chapter  of  Deu- 
teronomy, where  the  sameHeb.  noun  tmJ,  rendered  hea- 
then in  the  former  text,  is  properly  expressed  by  the  En- 


136  LAW    OF    RETRIBUTION. 

glish  word  nations)  the  Israelites  were  expressly  directed 
to  drive  out,  kill,  and  destroy  without  pity  (Deut.  vii.  16.) 
and  to  make  no  covenant  with  them  (Deut.  vii.  2.)  :  and  I 
hope  I  have  also  proved  that  the  remainder  of  these  parti- 
cular wicked  nations,  thus  expressly  doomed  to  destruction, 
were  undoubtedly  "  the  heathen"  (or  nations)  "  that  dwelt 
round  about"  the  Israelites,  and  "  the  children  of  the  stran- 
gers" whom  (and  whom  alone)  it  was  lawful  to  hold  in  per- 
petual bondage  ;  for  otherwise  that  permission  cannot  be 
reconciled  to  God's  positive  commands,  given  in  the  same 
law,  to  love  the  stranger.  u  The  Lord  your  God  is  God 
of  Gods,  and  Lord  of  Lords,  a  great  God,  a  mighty  and  a 
terrible,  which  regardeth  not[persons"  (so  that  this  was  ap- 
parently a  general  law,  or  rule,  of  conduct,  towards  all 
persons,  except  the  people  of  those  particular  nations  which 
were  expressly,  by  name,  condemned  to  destruction  by  the 
hands  of  the  Israelites,  in  other  parts  of  the  law,  for  their 
abominable  wickedness)  "  nor  taketh  reward  :  he  doth  ex- 
ecute the  judgment  of  the  fatherless  and  widow,  and  loveth 
the  stranger,  in  giving  him  food  and  raiment.  Love  ye 
therefore  the  stranger,"  (and  the  almighty  inculcates  a 
svmpathetic  concern  for  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  stran- 
gers, by  reminding  the  Israelites  of  their  own  unhappy  situa- 
tion formerly  in  a  strange  country,)  "  for  ye"  (says  the  text,) 
"  were  strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt."  Deut.  x.  17  to 
19.  See  also  Levit.  xix.  33,  34.  "  Thou  shalt  love  him," 
that  is  (the  stranger,)  "  as  thyself;  for  ye  were  strangers  in 
the  land  of  Egypt." 

National  wickedness,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world, 
has  generally  been  visited  with  national  punishments  :  and 
surely  no  national  wickedness  can  be  more  heinous  in  the 
sight  of  God,  than  a  public  toleration  of  slavery  and  op- 
pression !  for  tyranny,  (in  whatsoever  shape  it  appears,) 
must  necessarily  be  esteemed  a  presumptuous  breach  of 
that  divrhe  command,  in  which  "  all  law  is  fulfilled"  (Gal. 
v.  14.)  viz.  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 
Levit.  xix.  18. 

The  histories  of  all  nations,  indeed  afford  tremendous 
examples  of  God's  vengeance  against  tyrants  ;  but  no  his- 


LAW    OF     RETRIBUTION.  137 

tory  is  so  proper  to  illustrate  this  subject,  (which  now  so 
nearly  concerns  us,  as  that  of  the  Jews  :  for  as  the  know- 
ledge of  the  divine  law  was  revealed  in  a  more  particular 
manner  to  that  people,  and  to  others  only  through  them,  so 
the  effe?t  even  of  their  disobedience  was  an  exemplary  de- 
monstration, from  time  to  time,  of  God's  vengeance,  as 
well  as  of  his  mercy,  for  the  instruction  of  all  other  na- 
tions, amongst  whom  they  are  now  dispersed  as  living  mon- 
uments of  the  same  to  this  very  day  :  and  we  have  the 
authority  of  an  apostle  (Cor.  x.  II,)  to  assert,  that 
"all  these  things  happened  unto  them  for  examples;  and 
they  are  written,  '  (says  he)  "  for  our  admonition,  upon 
whom  the  ends  of  the  world  are  come." 

One  of  the  first  and  most  signal  instances  of  mercy 
which  the  Almighty  was  pleased  to  show  that  people,  after 
they  became  a  nation,  was,  the  restoring  them  to  their  na- 
tural freedom  from  the  deplorable  slavery  in  which  they 
were  detained  by  a  tyranical  Egyptian  monarch  ( Kxod.  iii. 
23,  24,)  :  and  the  tremendous  judgments  whereby  this  de- 
liverance was  effected  (viz.  the  plagues  of  Egypt)  are  so 
many  signal  examples  of  God's  severe  vengeance  against 
slaveholders,  which  ought  to  be  had  in  everlasting  remem- 
brance, to  warn  all  nations  ol  the  world  against  the  unna- 
tural and  baneful  practice  of  keeping  slaves. 

This  deliverance  from  bondage  was  frequently  mention- 
ed, even  in  the  words  of  God  himself,  by  his  prophets, 
from  time  to  time  (as  I  have  before  remarked) — "  Thus 
saith  the  Lord"  (i.  e.  Jehovah)  "  God  of  Israel  :  I  brought 
you  up  from  Egypt,  and  brought  you  forth  out  of  the  house 
of  bondage  ;"  (jV3H  CDHJj;,  more  literally  "from  the 
house  of  slaves")  "  and  I  delivered  you  out  of  the  hand 
of  the  Egyptians,  and  out  of  the  hand  of  all  that  oppress- 
ed you,"  &c.  Judges  vi.  8. — "  I  removed  his  shoul- 
der from  the  burden  ;  his  hands  were  delivered  from  the 
pots:*  thou  calledst  in  trouble,  and  1  delivered  thee."  Psal. 
Ixxxi.  6,  7. 

The  Israelites  themselves  were  also  particularly  direct- 

*In  like  manner  there  are  multitudes  of  poor  people  retained  in 
a  deplorable  bondage,  even  to  this  day,  in  the  potteries  of  China. 

12 


138  LAW    OF    RETRIBUTION. 

ed  to  remember  this  signal  exertion  of  divine  mercy  and 
power  in  the  cause  of  popular  freedom  :  "  Remember  that 
thou  wast  a  servant"  (viz.  a  slave)  "in  the  land  of  Egypt, 
and  that  the  Lord  thy  God  brought  thee  out  thence 
through  a  mighty  hand,  and  by  a  stretched  out  arm,"  &c. 
Deut.  v.  15. 

It  was  surely  for  the  moral  purpose  of  stirring  up  in  the 
Israelites  a  sympathetic  concern  for  the  sufferings  of  the 
oppressed,  and  more  particularly  of  oppressed  strangers, 
that  they  were  so  frequently  reminded  of  their  own  for- 
mer deplorable  condition  in  slavery,  and  of  their  miracu- 
lous deliverance  from  thence  ;  being  expressly  referred  to 
their  own  feelings  and  remembrance  of  the  cruel  foreign 
tyranny,  which  they  themselves  had  so  lately  experienced 
in  Egypt: —  "  thou  shalt  not  oppress  a  stranger  :  for  ye 
know  the  heart"  (ddj,  properly  the  soul)  "  of  a  stranger, 
seeing  ye  were  strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt.  Exod. 
xxiii.  9. 

God  also  gave  the  Israelites  due  warning  of  the  danger 
of  oppression,  by  declaring  that  he  would  surely  revenge 
the  cause  of  the  injured  stranger:  "Thou  shalt  neither 
vex  a  stranger  nor  oppress  him  ;  for  ye  were  strangers  in 
the  land  of  Egypt.  Ye  shall  not  afflict  any  widow  or  fa- 
therless child.  If  thou  afflict  them  in  any  wise,  and  they 
cry  at  all  unto  me,  I  will  surely  hear  their  cry"  (mark  this 
ye  African  traders  of  this  island,  and  ye  West  India  and 
British  American  slave  holders  !  for  ye  are  all  guilty  of 
the  like  abominable  oppressions,  and  God  will  surely  avenge 
the  cause  of  the  oppressed)  "  and  my  wrath  shall  wax  hot 
and  I  will  kill  you  with  the  sword,  and  your  wives  shall  be 
widows,  and  your  children  fatherless."  Exod.  xxii.  21 
to  24. 

And  have  not  the  careless  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain 
and  her  colonies  too  much  reason  also  to  apprehend  that  the 
same  God  (who  professes  to  hear  the  cry  of  oppressed 
strangers,  if  they  cry  at  all  unto  him)  will,  sooner  or  later, 
visit  these  kingdoms  with  some  signal  mark  of  his  displea- 
sure, for  the  notorious  oppression  of  an  almost  innumera- 
ble multitude  of  poor  African  strangers,  that  are  harrass- 


LAW    OP    RETRIBUTION.  139 

ed,  and  continually  wearing  out,  with  a  most  shameful  in- 
voluntary  servitude  in  the  British  colonies!  nay,  and  that 
by  a  public  toleration,  under  the  sanction  of  laws  to  which 
the  monarchs  of  England,  from  time  to  time,  by  the  advice 
of  their  privy  counsellors,  have  given  the  royal  assent,  and 
thereby  rendered  themselves  parties  in  the  oppression,  and 
(it  is  to  be  feared)  partakers  of  the  guilt ! 

Let  us  not  forget,  before  it  is  too  late,  that  the  Almighty 
has  not  only  declared  himself  ready  to  «*  hear  the  cry"  of 
the  oppressed  stranger,  but  hath  deigned  to  acid  to  his  glo- 
rious name  Jehovah,  a  brief  remembrance  of  his  merciful 
interposition  in  behalf  of  an  enslaved  nation  :  "  I  am  the 
Lord  your  God"  (or  Jehovah  your  God,  said  the  Almighty 
to  the  Israelites)  "  which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage."  Exod.  xx.  1. 
Thus  the  Almighty  Deliverer  from  slavery  vouchsafed  to 
set  his  own  divine  example  before  the  eyes  of  his  redeem- 
ed people,  to  excite  benevolence  and  thankfulness  ;  and 
the  like  remembrance  of  that  glorious  redemption  from 
slavery  was  very  frequently  repeated  from  time  to  time  ; 
which  the  Scriptures  sufficiently  testify  :  but  alas !  the 
Israelites  profited  so  little  by  these  wholesome  lessons,  that 
it  became  necessary,  no  less  frequently,  to  remind  them  of 
the  dreadful  vengeance  which  would  inevitably  overtake 
them  for  their  notorious  oppressions  of  the  poor  ;  for  their 
unjust  exactions  of  involuntary  and  unrewarded  service ; 
and  for  exceeding  the  limitations  of  bondage  (already  reci- 
ted)which  the  law  expressly  enjoined! 

"  For  the  oppression  of  the  poor,  for  the  sighing  of  the 
needy,  now  will  I  arise,  saith  the  Lord  ;  and  will  set  him 
in  safety  from  him  that  puffeth  at  him,"  or  **  that  would 
ensnare  him."  Psal.  xii.  5. 

The  princely  prophet  Isaiah  plainly  declared  to  them, 
that  their  public  fasts  and  outward  humiliations  were  not 
only  vain,  but  even  offensive  to  God,  while  such  notorious 
oppressions  continued  among  them,  "  Behold"  (said  he) 
"  in  the  day  of  your  fast,  you  find  pleasure,  and  exact  all 
your  labors."  lviii.  3:  And  again, — "  Is  it  such  a  fast 
that  I  have  chosen  ?  a  day  for  a  man  to  afflict  his  soul  ?  is 


140  LAW    OF  RETRIBUTION. 

it  to  bow  down  his  head  as  a  bulrush  V  &c.  "  Is  not  this 
the  fast  that  I  have  chosen  ?  to  loose  the  bands  of  wicked- 
ness, to  undo  the  heavy  burthens"  (or  rather  the  bundles 
of  the  yoke,  HDiD  rrnJH  plainly  referring  to  the  severe 
and  unjust  bondage  of  the  poor)  "  and  to  let  the  oppressed 
go  free,  and  that  ye  break  every  yoke  V — "  Is  it  not  lo  deal 
thy  bread  to  the  hungry,  and  to  bring  the  poor  that  are 
cast  out"  (or  rather  to  bring  the  poor  that  are  reduced,  or 
depressed,  viz.  as  it  were  by  tyrants ;  for  so  the  word 
om-n  seems  more  properly  to  signify  in  this  place)  "  to 
thy  house  ?"  &c.  Compare  this  with  Deut.  xxiii.  lo,  16. 
And  he  warned  them  of  the  divine  justice  that  would  pur- 
sue them  for  their  oppression  and  tyrannical  treatment  01 
the  poor. 

"  The  Lord  standeth  up  to  plead,  and  stancleth  to  judge 
the  people  !  The  Lord  will  enter  into  judgment  with  the 
ancients  (or  senators)  of  his  people,  and  the  princes  thereof; 
for  ye  have  eaten  up  the  vineyard  ;  the  spoil  of  the  poor  is 
in  your  houses  !  What  mean  ye  that  you  beat  my  people 
to  pieces,  and  grind  the  faces  of  the  poor?"  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts  !  Isa.  iii.  13  to  15. 

The  wicked  practices  whereby  the  Israelites  reduced 
their  poor  brethren  to  slavery  are  described  by  the  prophet 
Amos  :  "  Hear  this,  O  ye  that  swallow  up  the  needy,  even 
to  make  the  poor  of  the  land  to  fail,  saying,  when  will  the 
new  moon  be  gone,  that  we  may  sell  corn?  and  the  Sabbath, 
that  we  may  set  forth  wheat,  making  the  Ephah  small,  and 
the  shekel  great,  and  falsifying  the  balances  by  deceit  ? 
That  we  may  buy  the  poor  for  silver  and  the  needy  for  a  pair 
of  shoes"  (that  is,  comparatively  speaking,  at  a  most  con- 
temptible price  !  whereby  we  may  presume  that  slave  mar- 
kets were  not  so  notoriously  established  at  that  time  as  at 
the  present ;  and  that  the  bidders  were  fewy  though  the 
oppressed  were  many)  "yea,  and  sell  the  refuse  of  the 
wheat  ?  The  Lord  hath  sworn  by  the  excellency  of  Jacob, 
surely  I  will  never  forget  any  of  these  works.  Shall  not 
the  land  tremble  for  this,  and  every  one  mourn  that  dwell- 
eth  therein?"  &c.     Amos  viii.  4  to  8. 

Here  is  a  solemn  appeal  from  God  to  the  human  under- 


LAW  OF    RETRIBUTION.  141 

standing  :  "Shall  not  the  land  tremble  for  this  !"  that  is, 
for  this  same  abominable  oppression  of  the  poor  (the  buy- 
ing them  for  slaves)  in  which  Great  Britain  and  her  Colo- 
onies  are  infinitely  more  guilty  than  the  people  to  whom 
this  appeal  was  made  !  and  "  shall  not  the  land"  (there- 
fore) "  even  our  land,  tremble  for  this,  and  every  one 
mourn  that  dwelleth  therein?"  &c.  Surely  "  God  will  ne- 
ver forget  any  of  these  works,"  my  countrymen  ! 

The  prophet  Jeremiah  manifestly  alluded  to  the  like  de- 
ceitful practices  of  the  Jews  (whereby  they  reduced  the 
poor  to  slavery)  when  he  made  a  solemn  protest  against 
them  in  the  name  of  God  : — "  Your  sins"  (said  he)  "  have 
withholden  good  things  from  you.  For  among  my  people 
are  found  wicked  (men)  :  they  lay  wait  as  he  that  setteh 
snares  ;  they  set  a  trap,  they  catch  men.  As  a  cage  (or 
coup)  is  full  of  birds,  so  are  their  houses  full  of  deceit : 
therefore  they  are  become  great,  and  waxen  rich.  They 
are  waxen  fat,  they  shine  :  yea,  they  overpass  the  deeds 
of  the  wicked  ;  they  judge  not  the  cause,  the  cause  of  the 
fatherless,  yet  they  prosper  ;  and  the  right  of  the  needy 
do  they  not  judge.  Shall  I  not  visit  for  these  things  ? 
saith  the  J^ord  !  Shall  not  my  soul  be  avenged  on  such  a 
nation  as  this  ?"  &c.  Jer.  v.  26  to  29.  Here  again  the 
Almighty  plainly  appeals  to  the  human  understanding  con- 
cerning the  propriety  or  rather  the  necessity,  of  exerting 
the  divine  vengeance  against  such  an  oppressive  nation. 

And  yet  how  inconsiderable  was  the  crime  of  the  Jewish 
nation  in  this  respect,  if  compared  with  the  numerous  bon- 
dage and  with  the  unbounded  oppsession  of  the  poor  negroes 
in  the  British  colonies?  Have  we  not  therefore  just  reason 
to  fear  that  God  will  «  visit  for  these  things  ?"  Does  not 
the  word  of  God,  which  cannot  change,  appeal  to  us,  my 
countrymen,  as  well  as  to  the  Jews? — "Shall  not  my 
soul"  (saith  the  Lord  !)  "  be  avenged  on  such  a  nation  as 
this?" 

The  same  prophet,  in  the  next  chapter,  declares  the  di- 
vine vengeance  to  be  at  hand  : — "For  thus  hath  the  Lord 
of  hosts  said, — Hew  ye  down  trees,  and  cast  a  mount 
against  Jerusalem.     This  (is)  the  city  to  be  visited  !  she 

12* 


142  LAW    OF    RETRIBUTION. 

is  wholly  oppression  in  the  midst  of  her.  As  a  fountain 
casteth  out  her  waters,  so  she  casteth  out  her  wickedness; 
violenee  and  spoil  is  heard  in  her ;  before  me  continually 
is  grief  and  wounds!  Be  thou  instructed,  O  Jerusalem! 
lest  my  soul  depart  from  thee  :  lest  I  make  thee  desolate,  a 
land  not  inhabited  !"    Jer.  vi.  6  to  8. 

But  in  vain  were  the  warnings  of  the  prophet,  till  the 
judgments  themselves  began  to  appear  in  all  the  horrors  of 
a  hopeless  war,  which  began  in  the  ninth  year  (Kings  xxv. 
1.)  of  King  Zedekiah's  reign,  notwithstanding  that  the  mo- 
narch had  previously  rendered  himself  secure  (as  he 
thought)  by  his  military  preparations  (in  sending  for  horses 
and  men  from  Fgypt  to  complete  his  standing  army)  and 
had  also  made  Pharaoh  (another  presumptuous  military 
tyrant)  his  ally,  which  encouraged  him  to  break  his  oath 
and  covenant  with  the  king  of  Babylon. 

But  "  when  Nebuchadnezzar  King  of  Babylon,  and  all 
his  army,  and  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth,  of  his  domin- 
ion, and  all  the  people,  fought  against  Jerusalem,  and 
against  all  the  cities  thereof" — then  God  ordered  his  pro- 
phet to  remind  Zedekiah  of  that  dreadful  vengeance,  de- 
feat and  captivity,  which  had  so  often  before  been  denoun- 
ced as  the  necessary  consequences  of  oppression  and  injus- 
tice ! — "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel"  (viz.  to 
Jeremiah):  "  Go,  and  speak  to  Zedekiah  King  of  Judah, 
and  tell  him,  thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  behold  I  will  give  this 
city  into  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Babylon  ;  and  he  shall 
burn  it  with  fire.  And  thou  shalt  not  escape  out  of  his 
hand,  but  shall  surely  be  taken,  and  delivered  into  his 
hand  ;  and  thine  eyes  shall  behold  the  eyes  of  the  King  of 
Babylon,  and  he  shall  speak  with  thee  mouth  to  mouth,  and 
thou  shalt  go  to  Babylon,"  &c.  Jer.  xxxiv.  1  to  3. 

The  impending  vengeance  being  then  become  visible, 
and  consequently  more  tremendous,  by  the  near  approach 
of  the  Babylonian  army,  that  irresistible  instrument  in  the 
hand  of  God,  by  which  the  Jews  had  so  often  been  subdu. 
ed,  the  king's  stubborn  heart  began  to  relent,  and  his  mil- 
itary  confidence  to  forsake  him,  which  had  before  encour- 
aged his  injustice  ;  his  firmness  in  worldly  politics  wassha. 


LAW  OF    RETRIBUTION.  143 

ken,  and  yielded  to  a  sense  of  guilt !  It  was  upon  this  re- 
turn of  conscience  and  right  reason  that  Zedekiah  sent 
two  messengers,  Passur  and  Zephaniah,  to  Jeremiah,  say- 
ing, "  Inquire,  I  pray  thee,  of  the  Lord  for  us ;  for  Nebu- 
chadnezzar King  of  Babylon  maketh  war  against  us !  if 
so  be  the  Lord  will  deal  with  us  according  to  all  his  won- 
drous works,  that  he  may  go  up  from  us,"  &c.  See  chap. 
xxi.  ver.  1  and  2.  But  a  very  unwelcome  answer  was  giv- 
en to  the  messengers,  to  be  returned  to  their  monarch  ; 
for  the  prophet  confirmed  all  the  heavy  judgments  (Jer. 
xxi.  3  to  7.)  which  had  before  been  denounced,  as  well 
against  the  king,  expressly  by  name  as  against  the  city 
and  its  iniquitous  inhabitants,  whose  notorious  oppres- 
sions were  now  to  be  recompensed  upon  their  own  heads, 
measure  for  measure  : — "  Now  is  the  end  come  upon 
thee,  and  I  will  send  mine  anger  upon  thee,  and  will 
judge  thee  according  to  thy  ways,  and  will  recompense 
upon  thee  all  thine  abominations,"  &c.  Ezek.  vii.  3.  See 
also  the  4th,  8th,  and  9th  verses,  to  the  same  efH;ct.  And 
afterwards,  in  the  11th  verse,  one  of  the  principal  causes 
of  God's  vengeance  is  mentioned  : — "  Violence"  (said  the 
prophet)  "  is  risen  up  into  a  rod  of  wickedness  :  none  of 
them  shall  remain,  nor  of  their  multitude,  nor  of  any  of 
their's  ;  neither  shall  their  be  wailing  for  them.  The  time 
is  come,  the  day  draweth  near  !"  &c. — And  again,  in  the 
23d  verse  : — "  Make  a  chain"  (said  the  prophet)  ;  for  the 
land  is  full  of  bloody  crimes,  and  the  city  is  full  of  violence. 
Wherefore  I  will  bring  the  wor  t  of  the  heathen,  and  they 
shall  possess  their  houses,"  &c. — "Destruction  cometh  ; 
and  they  shall  seek  peace,  and  their  shall  be  none.  Mis- 
chief  shall  come  upon  mischief,  and  rumor  shall  be  upon 
rumor,"  &c. — "  The  king  shall  mourn,  and  the  prince 
shall  be  clothed  with  desolation,  and  the  hands  of  the  peo. 
pie  of  the  land  shall  be  troubled  :  I  will  do  unto  them  after 
their  (own)  way,  and  according  to  their  deserts"  (or  rather 
their  own  judgments)  ?-  will  I  judge  them  ;  and  they  shall 
know  that  I  am  the  Lord."  Again,  in  the  12th  chapter, 
the  same  reason  is  clearly  assigned  for  the  pouring  out  of 
God's  vengeance  : — "  Say  unto  the  people   of  the  land, 


144.  LAW    OF    RETRIBUTION. 

thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem 
and  of  the  land  of  Israel ;  they  shall  eat  their  bread  with 
carefulness  ;  and  drink  their  water  with  astonishment,  that 
her  land  may  be  desolate  from  all  that  is  therein,  because 
of  the  violence  of  them  that  dwell  therein."  Ezek.  xii.  19. 
The  nature  of  this  baneful  violence,  which  cccasioned 
their  destruction,  is  more  particularly  described  by  the 
same  prophet,  in  chap.  xxii.  ver.  7. — "  in  the  midst  of  thee" 
(still  speaking  of  Jerusalem)  "have  they  dealt  by  oppres- 
sion with  the  stranger"  (mark  this  ye  British  slave  dealers 
and  slaveholders)  ;  "  in  thee  have  they  vexed  the  fatherless 
and  the  widow.  Thou  hast  despised  mire  holy  things,  and 
hast  profaned  my  Sabbaths.  In  thee  are  men  that  carry 
tales  to  shed  blood  :  and  in  thee  they  eat  upon  the  mountains: 
in  the  midst  of  thee  they  commit  lewdness,"  &c. — "  One 
hath  committed  abomination  with  his  neighbour's  wife  : 
and  another  hath  lewdly  defiled  his  daughter-in-law,"  &c. 
"  In  thee  have  they  taken  gifts  to  shed  blood  :  thou  hast 
taken  usury  and  increase,  and  thou  hast  greedily  gained 
of  thy  neighbors  by  extortion,  and  hast  forgotton  me,  saith 
the  Lord  God.  Behold,  therefore,  I  have  smitten  mine 
hand  at  thy  dishonest  gain  which  thou  hast  made,  and  at  thy 
blood  which  hath  been  in  the  midst  of  thee,"  &c.  Ezek. 
xxii.   7,  &c. 

Oh  that  the  subjects  of  the  British  empire  would  seri- 
ously compare  these  crimes  with  their  own  practices  !  they 
would  then,  surely,  be  sensible  of  their  danger  ;  and  that 
they  have  reason  to  expect  the  like,  or  rather  much  hea- 
vier, judgments,  than  those  denounced  against  the  Jews  ! 
For,  besides  the  notorious  adulteries,  and  other  acts  of 
lewdness,  which  many  amongst  us  (from  the  frequency  of 
such  crime)  commit,  even  without  shame  or  remorse,  we 
have  far  exceeded  the  guilt  of  the  Jews,  I  fear,  in  many 
of  the  other  points  also  which  provoked  the  vengeance  of 
the  Almighty  against  them  !  What  «<  violence"  amongst 
the  Jews,  before  their  captivity,  was  ever  "  risen  up  into" 
so  destructive  "  a  rod  of  wickedness" — as  the  African 
slave  trade,  now  carried  on  chiefly  by  our  Liverpool  and 
Bristol   merchants  ?    What   "  bloody  crime"  among  the 


LAW    OF    RETRIBUTION.  145 

Jews  was  more  notorious,  and  more  wickedly  premedi- 
tated, than  the  late  invasion  and  conquest  of  the  poor  in- 
nocent Carribees  at  St.  Vincent's  ?  And  what  nation  hath 
"  dealt  by  oppression  with  the  stranger"  so  generally, 
so  inhumanly,  and  in  so  great  a  degree,  as  our  Bri- 
tish American  slaveholders ! — Hav,e  we  not  ample  rea- 
son to  expect  that  the  same  tremendous  decree  will,  in 
God's  justice,  be  fulfilled  upon  these  kingdoms  ? — "  De- 
struction cometh  :  and  they  shall  seek  peace,  and  there 
shall  be  none.  Mischief  shall  come  upon  mischief,  and 
rumor  upon  rumor,"  &c.  &c.  &c. — "  I  will  do  unto  them 
after  their  (own)  way,  and  according  to  their  (own)  judg- 
ments will  I  judge  them  !"  &c. 

Nevertheless,  God  was  pleased  to  offer  the  Jews  a  choice 
in  their  fate, — either  to  forsake  their  wicked  King  (who 
had  forfeited  all  right  to  govern,  by  his  neglect  of  justice 
and  natural  right)  and  to  fall  away  to  the  king's  enemies, 
the  Chaldeans;  or  else  to  perish  miserably  in  the  city,  and 
partake  of  its  destruction !— "  And  unto  this  people" 
(said  God  to  the  prophet  Jeremiah)  "  thou  shalt  say,  thus 
saith  the  Lord  ;  behold,  I  set  before  you  the  way  of  life, 
and  the  way  of  death.  He  that  abideth  in  this  city  shall 
die  by  the  sword,  and  by  the  famine,  and  by  the  pestiienee  : 
but  he  that  goeth  out,  and  falleth  to  the  Chaldeans  that  be- 
siege you,  he  shall  live,  and  his  life  shall  be  unto  him  for  a 
prey,"  &c.     Jer.  xxi.  8,  9. 

The  prophet,  however  was  directed  to  add  to  his  mes- 
sage a  word  of  advice  to  the  king  and  court,  which  shows 
that  a  seasonable  repentance  might,  even  then,  have  saved 
the  state,  and  turned  away  the  impending  vengeance. 

It  was  such  advice,  too,  as  every  other  monarch,  who 
tolerates  any  unnatural  bondage  or  oppression  in  his  domin- 
ions, ought  seriously  to  consider,  because  the  event  proved 
it  to  be  the  best  means  of  averting  God's  anger,  if  the  king 
had  but  persevered  in  it. — "  And  touching"the  house  of  the 
king  of  Judah"  (continued  the  prophet)  "  say, — hear  ye  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  O  house  of  David — thus  saith  the  Lord  ; 
execute  judgment  in  the  morning,  and  deliver  him  that  is 
spoiled  out   of  the  hand  of  the  oppressor,  lest  my  fury  go 


146  LAW    OF     RETRIBUTION. 

out  like  fire,  and  burn  that  none  can  quench  (it),  because 
of  the  evil  of  your  doings."  Jer.  xxi.  12.    This  is  a  mani- 
fest declaration  that  the  neglect  of  justice  and  right,   and 
the  toleration  of  oppression,  were  the  principal  causes  of 
God's  heavy  vengeance  against  that  royal  house  ! 

The  same  advice  was,  by  God's  command,  repeated  by 
the  prophet  to  the  king  himself  in  his  palace  (see  the  next 
chapter) : — "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  go  down  to  the  house 
of  the  king  of  Judah,  and  speak  there  this  word,  and  say, 
hear  the  word  of  the  Lord,  O  king  of  Judah,  that  sittest 
upon  the  throne  of  David,  thou,  and  thy  servants,  and  thy 
people  that  enter  in  by  these  gates"  (that  is,  all  persons 
whatever  that  enter  in  by  the  palace  gates,  plainly  inclu- 
ding the  whole  court,  before  whom  the  prophet  was  to  de- 
liver his  message)  :  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord;  execute  ye 
judgment  and  righteousness,  and  deliver  the  spoiled  out  of 
the  hand  of  the  oppressor  ;  and  do  no  wrong,  do  no  vio- 
lence to  the  stranger,"*  &c. — "  For  if  ye  do  this  thing  in- 
deed" (that  is,  if  ye  will  execute  judgement  and  righteous- 
ness, deliver  the  oppressed,  &c.)  "then  shall  there  enter 
in  by  the  gates  of  this  house  kings  sitting  upon  the  throne 
of  David"  (or  rather  "  that  sit,"  i.  e.  reign,  "  for  David 
upon  his  throne")  "  riding  in  chariots  and  on  horses,  he 
and  his  servants,  and  his  people"  (that  is,  the  court  should 
continue  and  prosper.)  "  But  if  ye  will  not  hear  these 
words,  I  swear  by  myself,  saith  the  Lord"  (i.  e.  Jehovah) 
that  this  house"  (i.  e.  the  palace)  "  shall  become  a  deso- 
lation." Jer.  xxii.  1  to  5.  So  that  the  whole  court  were 
as  much  interested  to  promote  a  speedy  reformation,  as  the 
king  himself.  Thus  it  is  plain  that  the  king  and  court  had 
also  a  choice  given  them  of  life  and  death,  as  well  as  the 
people  ;  and,  consequently,  that  the  judgments  denounced 
were  only  conditional,  in  case  the  warning  was  neglected; 
for  it  is  manifest  that  God  mercifully  tendered  to  them 
{even  at  the  eve  of  their  destruction)  a  continuance  of  the 

*And  what  ''  wrong"  or  "  violence  to  the  stranger"  can  be  more 
oppressive  than  that  of  detaining  him  in  an  involuntary  servitude, 
without  wages,  in  a  miserable,  wretched  bondage,  worse  than  that 
of  brute  beasts  ! 


LAW    OF     RETRIBUTION.  147 

monarchy  (viz.  "  kings  sitting  upon  the  throne  of  David") 
if  they  would  but  resolve  to  execute  judgment  and  right- 
eousness ;"  to  "deliver  the  spoiled  out  of  the  hand  of  the 
oppressor  ;"  and  to  do  no  wrong,  no  violence,  "  to  the  stran- 
ger," &c.  But  the  prophet  also  added  much  more  advice 
to  the  king  and  his  court,  though  he  was  not  "  made  of  the 
king's  council  (See  2  Chron.  xxv.  16  to  24.)  ;"  for  he 
boldly  warned  the  monarch  by  the  tremendous  examples 
of  God's  judgments  upon  three  of  his  immediate  prede- 
cessors in  the  kingdom  ;  two  of  whom  were  his  own  bro- 
thers, the  sons  of  king  Josiah  ;  and  the  third  his  own  ne- 
phew, whom  he  immediately  succeeded.  They  were  all 
particularly  mentioned  by  him  in  the  proper  order  of  their 
respective  reigns,  as  we  find  by  the  copy  of  his  message 
or  remonstrance,  preserved  in  the  collections  of  his  pro- 
phecies ;  and,  throughout  the  said  remonstrance,  frequent 
allusions  are  made  to  the  principal  causes  of  the  failure 
and  destruction  of  each  of  them  which  afford  a  most  stri- 
king and  interesting  lesson  to  kings  and  governors  in  gen- 
eral;  but  it  must  have  been  more  particularly  affecting  to 
Zedekiah,  if  we  consider  his  critical  situation  at  the  time 
the  message  was  delivered  to  him,  and  that  the  examples 
of  vengeance,  to  which  the  prophet  referred  him,  were  ac- 
tually accomplished  in  the  persons  of  his  nearest  relations 
and  predecessors,  who  were  successively  deprived  of  their 
royal  dignitv,  and  carried  away  in  chains  into  a  slavish  cap- 
tivity ;  the  very  fate  which,  the  prophet  assured  him,  was 
to  be  his  own  ! 

But  before  I  recite  the  remainder  of  God's  message  to 
the  court  of  Zedekiah,  it  will  be  necessary  for  me  to  give 
some  general  account  of  that  monarch  and  of  his  immediate 
predecessors,  in  order  that  the  remonstrance,  in  which  they 
are  all  distinctly  mentioned,  may  be  more  easily  understood 
by  the  generality  of  readers.  It  will  likewise  be  necessa- 
ry for  me  to  prove,  that  the  whole  22d  chapter  of  Jeremiah 
is  included  in  that  message,  or  remonstrance,  which  the 
prophet  was  then  to  deliver  in  the  presence  of  the  whole 
court  of  Zedekiah.  And  I  propose  to  insert  also  some  re- 
marks, as  they  occur,  concerning  the  prophet  himself,  and 


148  LAW    OF  RETRIBUTION. 

the  order  of  time,  in  which  he  delivered  the  several  tre- 
mendous predictions  of  God's  vengeance  against  the  wick- 
ed princes. 

Zedekiah  was  the  son  of  that  excellent  prince  Josiah 
king  of  Judah,  on  whose  account,  expressly,  the  dreadful 
vengeance,  due  to  that  wicked  nation,  was  postponed  for  se- 
veral years,  viz.  till  after  his  death. 

The  Scriptures  mention  four  sons  of  king  Josiah,  viz. 
(i  the  first  born,  Johanan  (or  John)  ;  the  second,  Jehoiakim  ; 
the  third,  Zedekiah;  and  the  fourth,  Shallum."  1  Chron. 
iii.  15.  What  became  of  the  eldest  son,  Johanan,  or  John, 
is  not  recorded  (1  Chron.  iii.  15.)  but  all  the  others  ascen- 
ded the  throne  of  David  ;  and  first  of  all,  the  youngest  son 
Shallum,  whom,  on  the  death  of  king  Josiah,  "  the  people 
of  the  land  took,  and"  (as  it  seems,  without  regard  to  seni- 
ority) "  made  him  king  in  his  father's  stead  in  Jerusalem." 
2  Chron.  xxxvi.  1. 

The  reign  of  Shallum  (alias  Jehoahaz  2  Kings  xxiii. 
31,  32,)  was  only  three  months  ;  for  he  regarded  not  the 
eternal  laws  of  God,  and  thereby  drew  down  the  divine 
vengeance  upon  himself,  by  the  hand  of  Pharaoh-Neco, 
who  deposed  him  at  Jerusalem  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  3,)  and 
afterwards  "  put  him  in  bands  at  Riblah  in  the  land  of  Ha- 
math,  that  he  might  not  reign  in  Jerusalem"  (2  Kings  xxiii. 
33)  there  being,  probably,  some  reason  to  apprehend,  that 
he  would  attempt  to  supplant  his  elder  brother  Eliakim, 
whom  the  Egyptian  conqueror  had  thought  proper  to  set 
up  in  his  stead  upon  "  the  throne  of  David  ;"  and  therefore, 
to  secure  the  new  established  monarch,  he  not  only  put 
Shallum  in  bands,  but  also  carried  him  away  with  him 
into  captivity  in  Egypt  where  he  died  (2  Kings  xxiii.  34.) 

Thus  Eliakim  (through  the  mercy  of  God  to"  the  house 
of  David")  was  raised  to  the  throne  and  kingdom  of  his  an- 
cestors, even  by  a  foreign  enemy  !  who  also  changed  his 
name  (that  the  providence  of  God  might  be  more  apparent 
in  the  revolution)  from  Eliakim  (a^pi-Sx,  signifying  God 
will  establish)  to  Jehoiakim,  signifying  (as  I  have  before 
remarked)  "Jehovah  will  establish;"  whereby  it  is  mani- 
fest that  even  a  heathen  monarch  took  pains  to  remind  the 


LAW    OP     RETRIBUTION.  149 

new  king  of  Judah  of  his  dependence  on  Jehovah  the  God 
of  Israel,  whose  laws  and  religion  of  course,  we  may  pre- 
sume, were  likewise  re-established  in  Judea  by  the  same 
foreign  authority ;  for  it  would  have  been  absurd  in  the 
Egyptian  monarch  to  have  changed  the  name  of  his  royal 
vassal  to  another  name  more  particularly  testifying  a  be- 
lief in  Jehovah,  the  true  God  of  Israel,  if  he  did  not  mean 
thereby  to  keep  the  Jewish  king  in  constant  remembrance 
of  the  national  profession  of  law  and  religion  by  the  sacred 
name  of  the  great  Author  of  them  ! 

The  same  remarkable  change  in  the  name  of  a  future 
king  of  Judah  was  made  also  by  another  foreign  and  hea- 
then conqueror  afterwards,  in  honor  of  the  eternal  Jeho- 
vah ;  so  that  it  was  manifestly  the  Providence  of  God 
which  inclined  these  two  great  enemies  of  the  Jewish  State, 
though  they  were  also  mortal  enemies  to  each  other,  (I 
mean  Pharaoh  and  Nebuchadnezzar)  to  pursue  exactly  the 
same  method  in  restoring  "  the  sceptre  of  Judah"  to  "  the 
house  of  David,"  and  in  declaring  the  establishment  of  the 
national  law  and  religion,  by  putting  a  respectful  memo- 
rial of  the  sacred  name  of  Jehovah  upon  the  new-raised 
monarchs  ! 

In  the  beginning  of  Jehoiakim's  reign,  though  Judea 
and  all  Syria  were  then  under  the  Egyptian  empire,  the 
prophet  Jeremiah,  in  his  27th  chapter  foretold  the  univer- 
sal empire  of"  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon,"  even 
before  that  great  warrior  was  king  of  Babylon,  his  father 
Nabopollasar,  who  was  also  called  Nebuchodonosor,  being 
still  alive.  The  prophet  was  directed  to  make  bonds  and 
yokes,  and  put  them  upon  his  own  neck,  and  to  send  them 
afterwards  to  the  kings  of  several  neighboring  nations, 
with  a  most  awful  message  from  God  concerning  the  rising 
power  of  the  Babylonian  monarch  : — "  And  now"  (said 
the  prophet,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  or  Jehovah,  of  hosts, 
the  God  of  Israel,  see  ver.  4.)  "  have  I  given  all  these 
lands  into  the  hand  of  Nebuchadnezzar  the  king  of  Baby- 
lon, my  servant ;"  &c. — "  and  all  nations"  (many  of  whom 
are  expressly  mentioned  in  the  third  verse)  "  shall  serve 
him,  and  his  son,  and  his  son's  son,  until  the  very  time 

13 


150  LAW    OF  RETRIBUTION. 

of  his  land  come"  (for  the  empire  continued  for  three  lives 
or  successions,  until  the  Babylonian  measure  of  iniquity 
and  oppression  was  fulfilled  in  the  reign  of  Belthazar,  when 
the  Medes  and  Persians  were  to  retaliate  upon  them  the 
hard  slavery  of  Israel)  ;  "  and  then,"  continues  the  pro- 
phet, "  many  nations  and  great  Kings  shall  serve  them- 
selves of  him,"  &c.  Jer.  xxvii.  6,  7.  that  is,  they  shall 
enslave  his  people,  in  the  same  manner  that  he  and  his  two 
successors  enslaved  and  oppressed  other  nations  :  render- 
ing slavery  for  slavery. 

In  the  same  chapter  Zedekiah  is  also  mentioned  by  name 
as  king  of  Judah  (Jer.  xxvii.  1  to  .*3,)  several  years  before 
he  received  the  name  of  Zedekiah  ;  so  that  neither  he 
himself,  whose  proper  name  was  Alattaniah,  nor  any 
other  person  could  possibly  know,  in  the  beginning  of  Je- 
hoiakim's  reign,  what  particular  person  was  then  signified 
by  the  name  of  Zedekiah  ;  for  even  Nebuchadnezzar  him- 
self, who  afterwards  gave  him  that  name,  was  not  king  of 
Babylon  when  the  prophecy  was  delivered,  as  1  have  al- 
ready remarked.  But  after  this  foreign  conqueror  had 
really  appointed  a  king  of  Judah,  and  given  him  the  name 
of  Zedekiah,  the  name  foretold  by  the  prophet,  such  an 
extraordinary  circumstance  would  add  unquestionable  au- 
thority to  the  truth  of  Jeremiah's  mission,  and  would  ren- 
der Zedekiah  and  his  courtiers  inexcusable,  as  they  really 
were,  for  rejecting  the  earnest  and  repeated  remonstran- 
ces of  that  prophet. 

This  timely  prediction,  therefore,  in  the  reign  of  Jehoia- 
kim,  with  the  internal  proofs  which  it  contained,  concern- 
ing the  necessity  of  Zedekiah's  submission  to  the  Babylo- 
nian voke,  seems  to  have  been  absolutelv  necessarv  to  ena- 
ble  the  prophet  to  confute  the  many  false  proj  hets,  divi- 
ners, dreamers,  &c.  (see  9th  verse)  who  were,  afterward, 
in  Zedekiah's  reign,  publicly  employed  to  excite  the  people 
to  shake  off  the  Babylonian  yoke. 

The  prophet  was  also  forewarned  in  the  beginning  of 
Jehoiakim's  reign,  as  the  same  chapter  testifies,  that  the 
Kings  of  Edom,  Moub,  Amnion,  Tyre,  and  Zidon  would  send 
mess3ngers  to  a  "  Zedekiah  king  of  Judah  ;  all  which  kings, 


LAW    OF     RETRIBUTION.  151 

as  Grotius  remarks,  were  subdued  by  Nebuchadnezzar  ; 
and  therefore  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  said  messengers  or 
ambassadors  were  sent  to  Zedekiah  for  the  purpose  of  form- 
ing a  league  against  the  Babylonian  power  :  the  public 
declarations  of  the  false  prophets  above  mentioned,  and 
the  actual  rebellion  soon  afterwards  of  Zedekiah  himself, 
renders  the  said  supposition  about  the  business  of  the  mes- 
sengers very  probable  ;  so  that,  if  this  singular  state  of  af- 
fairs be  considered,  the  sending,  at  such  a  seasonable  time, 
to  the  several  neighboring  kings,  by  the  return  of  their  am- 
bassadors, the  yokes  which  had  been  worn  by  Jeremiah,  to- 
gether with  God's  awful  message,  that  he  would  punish  that 
nation  which  will  not  serve  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  put  their 
neck  under  his  yoke,  ( Jer.  xxvii.  8,)  must  needs  strike  these 
heathen  monarchs,  if  they  were  not  entirely  abandoned 
in  their  principles,  with  fear  and  reverence  ;  especially  as 
their  ambassadors  would  hear  at  Jerusalem,  that  the  di- 
vine message  concerning  the  yokes,  then  sent,  had  been 
revealed  to  the  prophet  long  before  (thirteen  or  fourteen 
years)  in  the  beginning  of  Jehoiakim's  reign,  in  token  of 
which  the  prophet  had  worn  yokes  upon  his  own  neck 
(see  chap,  xxviii.  ver.  10,  12,  13)  ;  and  that  no  less  than 
three  circumstances  of  that  extraordinary  revelation  were 
now  already  fulfilled  :  the  prophet  having  not  only  fore- 
told the  reign  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  the  reign  of  Zed- 
ekiah, a  name  not  applicable  to  Zedekiah  himself  till  the 
Babylonian  conqueror  thought  proper  to  give  it  him,  so  that 
no  worldly  prudence  could  foresee  such  an  event,  but  had 
also  foretold  the  very  circumstance  in  which  they  them- 
selves were  concerned,  viz.  that  messengers  should  be 
sent  to  this  Zedekiah  by  such  and  such  kings  ! 

In  what  year  these  messengers  or  ambassadors  really 
arrived  at  Jerusalem,  or  returned  from  thence,  does  not 
appear  ;  but  as  the  yokes  were,  first  of  all,  to  be  put  upon 
the  prophet's  own  neck,  before  he  was  to  send  them  to  the 
kings  (compare  the  2d  and  3d  verses),  and  as  it  appears 
that  he  really  wore  such  a  wooden  yoke,  as  a  sign  against 
them,  in  the  temple,  so  late  as  the  4th  year  of  Zedekiah, 
when  a  false  prophet  took  it  from  his  neck,  and  broke  it, 


152  LAW    OF    RETRIBUTION. 

and  thereby  occasioned  a  further  command  respecting 
those  kings,  viz.  that  the  prophet  should  "  make  for  them 
yokes  of  iron  (Jer.  xxviii.  13,)"  it  seems  most  proba- 
ble that  the  wooden  yokes  first  ordered  had  not  then  been 
sent  to  them  ;  and,  consequently,  that  the  messengers  of 
those  kings  had  not  as  yet  arrived  at  Jerusalem,  for,  un- 
doubtedly, the  prophet  would  obey  the  divine  command 
as  soon  as  he  had  the  proper  opportunity  of  doirg  so  ; 
and  as  Zedekiah  went  to  Babylon  in  the  same  year  (see 
Jer.  li.  59,)  it  is  likely  the  messengers  did  not  arrive,  nor 
he  rebel,  till  the  year  following.  Nevertheless,  in  that 
year  (the  fourth  of  Zedekiah)  the  prophet  declared  the 
message  to  Zedekiah  himself,  which  he  had  before 
been  charged  to  send  to  the  other  kings : — "  I  spake 
also"  (says  he  in  ch.  xxvii.  ver.  12,)  "  to  Zedekiah  king 
of  Judah  according  to  all  these  words"  (that  is,  "  accord- 
ing to  all  these  words"  which  precede  in  the  same  chap- 
ter respecting  the  yokes,  and  which  had  been  revealed  in 
the  reign  of  Jehoiakim)  "  saying,  bring  your  necks  under 
the  yoke  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  serve  him,  and  his 
people,  and  live.  Why  will  ye  die,  thou,  and  thy  people, 
by  the  sword,  by  the  famine,  and  by  the  pestilence,  as  the 
Lord  hath  spoken  against  the  nation  that  will  not  serve 
the  king  of  Babylon?"  &c.  See  ver.  12  and  13.  The 
Almighty  had  laid  upon  all  the  other  nations  of  Palestine 
and  Syria  the  same  fatal  necessity,  either  to  submit  to  a 
foreign  yoke,  or  die  !  So  that  we  have  here  a  very  re- 
markable example  of  God's  vengeance  and  retribution 
upon  several  wicked  and  corrupt  nations  which  regarded 
not  the  eternal  laws  of  God  ! — They  must  either  serve  the 
king  of  Babylon,  or  be  destroyed  ; — there  was  no  alter- 
native ! — be  destroyed  "  by  the  sword,  by  the  famine,  and 
by  the  pestilence,  as  the  Lord  hath  spoken"  (compare  the 
13th  verse  with  the  8th)  "  until  I  have  consumed  them  by 
his  hand,"  that  is  by  the  h;»nd  of  the  Babylonian  conque- 
ror, the  appointed  instrument  of  God's  temporal  ven- 
geance : — and  the  God  of  armies  (mxnv  rnrp)  hath  in  all 
ages  raised  up  some  powerful  scourges  of  this  kind  to  pun- 
ish wicked  and  ungrateful  nations  with  fire  and  sword,  and 


LAW    OP    RETRIBUTION.  153 

to  reduce  them  to  an  unnatural  bondage,  on  account  of 
national  iniquities  !  Even  the  present  state  of  mankind 
affords  some  melancholy  proofs  of  this.  How  many  na- 
tions, now  subsisting  in  the  world,  have  forfeited  their  na- 
tural liberty,  and  are  now  sitting  under  the  iron  yokes  of 
unnatural,  arbitrary  governments,  subjected  to  the  will 
and  pleasure  of  their  respective  sovereigns,  instead  of 
law  !  And  if  the  particular  history  of  any,  or  perhaps  all, 
of  these  nations  be  carefully  examined,  it  will  not,  I  be- 
lieve, be  found  that  any  of  them  were  ever  reduced  to  such 
a  deplorable  state  of  national  misery,  till  by  national  wick- 
edness, and  public  contempt  of  God's  eternal  laws,  they 
had  rendered  a  national  retribution  strictly  necessary,  ac- 
cording to  the  unerring  rules  of  eternal  justice  !  All  hopes, 
therefore  of  redress  to  these  enslaved  nations  must  be  vain, 
without  a  sincere  reformation  of  manners  in  each  nation 
respectively,  and  without  public  and  most  earnest  national 
or  general  endeavors  to  obtain  reconciliation  and  forgive- 
ness from  the  the  King  of  Kings  ;  as  nothing  but  a  strict 
obedience  to  his  laws  can  render  any  nation  truly  free. 
Jeremiah  made  the  same  declaration  also  to  the  priests 
and  people  that  he  had  made  to  the  king  :  "  Also  I  spake" 
(says  he)  "  to  the  priests,  and  to  all  the  people,  saying, 
thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  hearken  not  to  the  words  of  your 
prophets  that  prophesy  unto  you,  saying,  behold,  the  ves- 
sels of  the  Lord's  house  shall  now  shortly  be  brought  again 
from  Babylon  ;  for  they  prophesy  a  lie  (Micahiii.  11.  Ne- 
hem.  vi.  10  to  12,)  unto  you.  Hearken  not  unto  them  : 
serve  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  live.  Wherefore  should 
this  city  be  laid  waste  ?"  Jer.  xxvii.  16,  17. 

The  wicked  prophets,  who  thus  misled  the  people  with 
lies,  presumed  nevertheless  to  use  the  sacred  name  of  Je- 
hovah (Jer.  xxvii.  14,  15,)  as  if  they  had  really  declared 
the  will  of  God  ;  so  that  the  true  prophet  had  need,  not 
only  of  all  those  unquestionable  proofs  of  his  divine  mis- 
sion, which  I  have  already  mentioned,  but  even,  of  other 
proofs  also,  to  enable  him  to  oppose  the  lying  prophets, 
who  pretended  to  speak  in  the  name  of  Jehovah,  as  well  as 
himself;  for  "  In  the  same  year"  (that  is,  in  the  fourth  of 


154  LAW    OF  RETRIBUTION. 

Zedekiah)  one  of  these  wicked  prophets,  "  Hananiah,  the 
son  of  Azur  the  prophet,  which  was  of  Gibeon,  (1  Chron. 
xxi.  29.  1  Kings  iii.  5,)" — "  took  the  yoke  from  off  the 
prophet  Jeremiah's  neck,  and  biake  it.  And  Hananiah 
spake"  (in  the  temple)  "  in  the  presence  of  all  the  people, 
saying,  thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  even  so  will  I  break  the  yoke 
of  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon  from  the  neck  of  all 
nations  within  the  space  of  two  full  years."  Jer.  xxviii.  1, 
10,  11.  Upon  which,  it  seems,  the  prophet  Jeremiah  was 
directed  by  God  to  reprove  Hananiah  with  a  severe  sen- 
tence ;  for  he  not  onlv  declared  that  "  Yokes  of  Iron" 
should  be  substituted  instead  of  the  "  yokes  of  wood"  (Jer. 
xxviii.  12,  18,)  which  Hananiah  had  broken,  as  J  be- 
fore remarked,  but  he  also  pointed  out  the  lying  prophet 
himself  to  the  public  observation,  as  a  notable  and  undeni- 
able token,  that  the  prophecies  of  Jeremiah  were  of  divine 
authority  ! — "  Hear  now,  Hananiah,"  (said  the  true  pro- 
phet) :  "  the  Lord"  (i.  e.  Jehovah)  "  hath  not  sent  thee  ; 
but  thou  makest  this  people  to  trust  in  a  lie.  Therefore 
thus  saith  the  Lord ; — Behold,  I  will  cast  thee  forth  from 
the  face  of  the  earth  :  this  year  thou  shalt  die,  because 
thou  hast  taught  rebellion  against  the  Lord.  So  Hana- 
niah the  prophet  died  the  same  year,  in  the  seventh  month." 
Jer.  xxviii.  15 — 17.  That  is,  he  died  exactly  two  months 
after  the  prediction,  which  was  made  in  the  fifth  month  of 
the  fourth  year  of  Zedekiah.  Such  evidence,  added  to 
the  former  clear  tokens  of  authenticity  which  this  pro- 
phecy of  the  yokes  carried  with  it,  must  render  Zedekiah 
and  his  courtiers  totally  inexcusable  for  neglecting  the  di- 
vine  warning,  and  relying  upon  false  prophets. 

Thus  the  propriety  of  considering  the  former  part  of  the 
27th  chapter  as  a  revelation  in  the  time  of  Jehoiakim, 
agreeable  to  the  testimony  of  the  Hebrew  text,  is  rendered 
apparent  by  the  particular  advantages  which  such  a  prior 
revelation  would  afterwards  give  to  the  true  prophet,  when 
he  had  to  oppose  the  pretended  prophecies  delivered  in  the 
fourth  year  of  Zedekiah  :  and  the  remaining  part  of  the 
27th  chapter,  from  the  12th  verse,  wherein  the  prophet 
mentions  his  personal  address  to  Zedekiah,  must  necessarily 


LAW    OF    RETRIBUTION.  155 

be  attributed  to  a  future  time,  which  in  the  following  chap- 
ter (the  28th)  is  expressly  declared  to  have  been  in  the 
fourth  year  of  Zedekiah. 

3f<  *f*  5JC  3(€  V  5fl 

Can  any  injury,  except  that  of  taking  away  a  man's  life, 
exceed  that  of  taking  away  a  man's  liberty,  who  has  never 
offended  us  !  Can  any  robbery  or  injustice  whatsoever  be 
more  atrocious  than  that  of  wearing  out  our  poor  brethren 
in  a  hard  involuntary  service,  without  wages  or  reward  ! 
thereby  continually  robbing  them  of  the  fruit  of  their  la- 
bors !  Have  I  not  shown,  by  unquestionable  examples 
from  Scripture,  that  this  is  a  crying  sin,  and  that  the  Al- 
mighty hath  denounced  wo  (Jer.  xvii.  13,)  against  all  such 
offenders  1  Do  we  not  profess  to  serve  the  same  God  who 
so  severely  punished  the  Jews  for  this  very  crime  ?  And 
is  there  any  just  ground  to  hope,  that  God,  who  spared  not 
his  own  peculiar  people,  will,  nevertheless,  excuse  the  in- 
habitants of  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies,  when  they  are 
wilfully  guilty  of  the  same  offence  ! 

The  whole  tenor  of  the  Scriptures  teaches  us,  that 
slavery  was  ever  detestable  in  the  sight  of  God,  insomuch 
that  it  has  generally  been  denounced  (and,  of  course,  in- 
flicted) as  the  punishment  of  the  most  abandoned  sinners  ; 
of  which  1  have  already  given  a  great  variety  of  instances. 

An  J  have  not  we  just  reason  to  dread  the  severe  ven- 
geance of  Almighty  .God,  when  it  is  notorious,  that  the 
tyranny  exercised  in  the  British  colonies  is  infinitely  more 
unmerciful  than  than  that  which  was  formerly  exercised 
by  the  Chaldoans,  insomuch  that  the  state  of  the  Jews  in 
their  captivity  might  be  esteemed  rather  as  freedom  than 
bondage,  when  compared  with  the  deplorable  servitude  of 
the  wretched  negro  slaves,  as  well  as  of  the  white  servants, 
in  our  Colonies  ? 

What  must  be  the  consequence  of  such  abominable  wick- 
edness ? 

By  a3  much  as  we  exceed  the  Assyrians  and  Babyloni- 
ans in  religious  knowledge,  by  so  much  more  severely  may 
we  expect  the  hand  of  God  upon  us  for  our  monstrous 
abuse  of  such  advantages  ! 


156  LAW    OF     RETRIBUTION. 

The  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain  and  the  inhabitants  of 
the  colonies  seem  to  be  almost  equally  guilty  of  oppression. 

The  colonies  protest  against  the  iniquity  of  the  slave- 
trade  ;  but,  nevertheless,  continue  to  hold  the  poor 
wretched  slaves  in  a  most  detestable  bondage  !  Great  Bri- 
tain, indeed,  keeps  no  slaves,  but  publicly  encourages  the 
slave  trade,  and  contemptuously  neglects  or  rejects  every 
petition  or  attempt  of  the  colonists  against  that  notorious 
wickedness ! 


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